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THE 



RESOUECES OF MISSOURI. 



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S. WATERHOUSB, 



ST. LOUIS. 



EDITION, 20,000 COPIES. 



ST. LOUIS, MO., 
8TEBB0IIPED AND FEINTED 6T AUG. WIB6U8CH i 

1867. 



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CORRESPONDENCE. 



The origin and design of this pamphlet on the ReBOurces of 
]iIissotiri are exphiined by the following letters. 

To the Editor of the N. Y. Tribune. 

Sir : At the request of the State Board of Immigration, of which 
I am President, Professor Waterhouee has prepai-ed the accompany- 
ing papers for publication. They will serve to answer thousands 
of inquiries made from every part of the United States. The pub- 
lic interest manifested in the subject of these papers justifies me in 
asking their publication in 5'our paper. I am, very I'espectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 

THOS. C. FLETCHER. 
Jefferson City, Mo. 



Gov. Tnos. C. Fletcher^ 

Dear Sir : The accompanying papers are 
hasty and informal expositions of the advantages which Missouri 
offers to the immigrant. 

In many instances, it has been found impossible to illustrate 
the resources of this State by recent statistics. For the last six 
years, no full record of industrial products has been kept. The civil 
war materially deranged every branch of business. So largely did 
it interrupt the operations of agriculture, mining and commerce, 
that the statistics of these departments dxtring the rebellion would, 
even if they were accessible, conve}' an altogether erroneous and 
inadequate impression of the capabilities of Missouri. 

But time does not impair the force of a fact. If freshness adds 
to its interest, age does not detract from its truth. A decade of 
years has not deprived the statistics upon the minerals of Missouri 
of their power of producing conviction. And, though the facts 
which are familiar to our citizens mav be new to Eastern and 

3 



European emigrants, the only vital point is the efficacy of these 
facts to impi-ess upon the public mind a full comprehension of the 
resources of Missouri. 

Hoping that a general knowledge of our economic advantages 
vrill convert many emigrants from other States and countries into 
immigrants and citizens of Missouri, 

I am, with high regard, yours truly, 

S. WATEEHOITSE. 
kSt. Louis. 



This series of papers has been revised and enlarged. It is 
hoped that the errors which have escaped correction are not suffi- 
ciently grave to weaken the force of the general conclusions. In 
some instances, from the impossibility of obtaining trustworthy 
statistics, approximate estimates have been given ; but these 
estimates express the best judgments of men practically conversant 
with the subjects under discussion. 

These articles are mere "advertisements" of the material re- 
sources of Missouri. The very object of the series precluded any 
thorough treatment of the several topics. A fuller discussion would 
have made a pamphlet too large for general circulation. 

The very kind and gratifying reception w^hich a generous pub- 
lic has already given these articles induces the hope that a further 
indulgence will be granted to sincere efforts for the material growth 
and mental culture of our noble State. 

S. W. 
Washington University, June Ist, 1867. 



GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF MISSOURI. 



January 11, 1865, was the most eventful date in the histoiy of 
Missouri. It was the birthday of liberty. It ushered Missouri into 
the sisterhood of free vStates. The act of that day will bless Mis- 
souri through all coming time. It will invigorate exevy form of 
business life, and stir the State to an early achievement of material 
greatness. 

Slavery benumbed the faculties of Missouri. States quickened 
by the incentives of freedom displayed a readier intelligence and 
prompter solutions of the problems of political economy. With all 
its superior advantages, Missouri, paralyzed by the torpor of servile 
institutions, was subjected to the humiliation of seeing itself far sur- 
passed in rapidity of growth by younger and smialler States. The 
tables of the census are registers of its comparative povei'ty. Such 
figures are not liable to the suspicion of rhetorical exaggeration. 
Slavery degraded labor, palsied enterprise, created injust social dis- 
tinctions, fostered a dangerous aristocracy, retarded the progress of 
industry, and finally plunged Missouri into the horrors of civil war. 
No free State conspired against the life of the nation. Slaveiy sowed 
the seed which has ripened into so fruitful a harvest of death. By 
its insurrection against lawful authority, it forced the nation — un- 
willing to submit to assassination, or to comm^it suicide at the re- 
commendation of traitors — to the ordeal of arms. Missouri bought 
her freedom with the costly treasure which is coined in the mint of 
battle. Her trial was severe. Desolate homes and burned villages 
are the monuments of her fraternal strife. Agricultural labor was 
interrupted, commerce was prostrated, life and property were in- 
secure, turbulence and carnage reigned supreme. But patriotism 
has triumphed. The devoted gallantry of our Federal soldiery has 
vanquished the assailants of repu.blican liberty. Victory has re- 
stored to the Nation unity and the possibility of greatness. Missouri 
will enjoy a liberal share in the splendor and rewards of triumph. 
Eedemption from slavery, and a free participation in the prosperity 
Avhich will flow from the re-establishment of the Union, are benefits 
of priceless value. Such gains will more than compensate for the 
losses of war. The advance in the price of real estate already re- 
quites Missouri for the enfranchisement of her slaves. The Ordin- 
ance of Emancipation has inaugurated a better era. The State 
already begins to feel the generous impulses of freedom. A new 
life is invigorating the body politic. Enterprise, commerce and 
manufactures are stimulated. Capital is flowing into the State. 

5 



6 

Corporations are forming for the development of our intenial re- 
sources, and factories are rising for the fabrication of domestic 
materials. The unsunned wealth of our mines is coming to the light 
in larger quantities. The pleased earth is yielding to the hands of 
free labor a richer store of golden grain. Processions of immigrant 
wagons are moving along all our highwaj-s. It is estimated that 
there was dui'ing last August and September an accession of 25,000 
people to the population of the State. There is a fresh vitality in 
the very air of Missouri. 

The domain which the Ordinance of Emancipation has restored 
to freedom is imperial. Missouri contains more than 67,000 square 
miles. It is half as large again as New York, and more than eight 
times the size of Massachusetts. It would make a score of German 
principalities. Larger than England and Wales, or Scotland and 
Ireland, it is equal to one-third of the area of France. The State is 
318 miles long by 280 broad. Of its 43,000,000 acres, at least 
35,000,000 are valuable for the purposes of agriculture or mining. 

The geographical advantages of Missouri are peerless. The 
State lies not only in the center of the Mississippi Valley, but near 
the heart of the continent. Its meti'opolis, lying upon the Pacific 
Railroad, will be the half-way station between the oceans, and the 
great central emporium for the distribution of the productions of 
the Mississippi Valley. That destiny^ is inevitable. It is the glor- 
ious necessity of physical geography. Missouri, lying between the 
parallels of 36 deg. 30 min. and 40 deg. 36 min. nortli latitude, en- 
joys the golden mean of the temperate zone. The salubrity of its 
climate is proverbial. Its chief defect is a liability to sudden 
changes. The summers are long and warm. The winters are gen- 
erally short and mild. On the parallel of St. Louis, the fall of snow 
is seldom more than two or three inches deep, and rarely remains 
on the ground a week. Sleigh-rid^js are infrequent and unsatisfact- 
ory. They illustrate the pursuit of pleasure under difiiculty. The 
balmy airs of the Indian summer temper to delightful softness the 
tard}- approach of winter. The average temperature of iSTovember, 
1865, was 46 deg. 39 min. ; in 1860, it was 45 deg. and 6 min.* 
Semi-tropic fruits mature in Southern Missouri, while the productions 
of a higher latitude flourish in the northern portions of the State. 
The soil of the river bottoms and rolling pi*airie is inexhaustibly 
fertile, and even the mining regions are capable of sujtporting a 
large agricultural population. The surface of Missouri is varied and 
undulating. Hills and mountains diversif}^ and intersect the State. 
The copious streams which flow from these elevations fertilize the 
valleys, and afford a motive power which the level prairie can never 
Bupply. Missouri invites manufacturers to her borders with the 
offer of rich facilities. If natural adaptation is any index of des- 
tiny, then this State will ultimately become the workshop of the 
Mississippi Valley. 

■* Tho result of observations made on the northern front of Washington University, 
at 9 A. M. If it had been a southern exposure, or a later hour, tlie average would, of 
course, have been appreciably higher. .According to another record, the mean tempera- 
ture ivas above 47 decrees. 



Missoiiri is heavily wooded. Her forests contain fuel and tirn' 
I)er amply sufficient to meet the wants of a population of 10,000,000. 

The mineral wealtli of the State is illimitable. Probably no 
equal area on the face of the globe surpasses Missouri in the rich- 
ness and variety of her minerals. Iler vaults are stored with almost 
every kind of ore which the arts of man require. The key to all 
this wealth is a spade. The lock which secures this treasnre is 
earth — any man can pick it. 

During the rebellion Missouri was cruelly vexed with evil 
spirits. But these have at length been cast out, and now the State, 
though rent and scarred by convulsions, is restored to sanity and 
health. It is now ready to commence an unobstructed career of 
development. The motives of freedom, fertility of soil, salubrity 
of climate, wealth of minerals, facilities for commerce and manu- 
factures, and ease of raih'oad and river transportation are the mat- 
erial advantages which invite the capitalist, the tradesman and the 
artisan of eveiy clime and nationality to a home in Missouri, to a 
co-operation in the development of its measureless resources, and 
to an enriching participation in its prosperity. 



AGRICULTURE OF MISSOURI. 



Missouri presents to the farmer those conditions of climate 
which are most favorable to husbandry. The cold of the Northern 
latitudes restricts variety of production and blockades communica- 
tion with icy bai-riers. The heat of the South enervates energy and 
invites to indolence. Missouri enjoys the genial mean which per- 
mits the widest range of products and the full exercise of physical 
powers. The thermometrical record kept at Jefferson Barracks — 
latitude 38 deg. 28 min., elevation 472 feet — shows that the mean 
annual temperature for twenty-six years, is 55.46 deg. The highest 
monthly average is 85.80 deg., and the lowest 18.54 dog. The mean 
annual rain-fall is 37.83 inches. The thermal and hydral averages, 
of the season are : 

Spring, 56 15 deg. 10.56 inches 

Summer, 76 19 " 12.88 " 

Autumn, 55 63 « 8.02 " 

Winter, 33 85 " 6.37 " 

It seems as though it Avould only be neccessary to advertise 
these advantages of climate to induce agricultural emigi-ants to avail 
themselves of such a genial co-operation of nature. 

Of the 35,000,000 acres of arable land in Missouri, 2,000,000 are 
the alluvial margins of rivers, and 20,000,000 high rolirng prairie.. 



8 

The richness of the soil is practically inexhaustible. In bottoms the 
mold is sometimes six feet deep. Some farms, after bearing with- 
out artificial fertilization twenty five successive crops, have yet 
failed to show any very great decrease in pi'oductiveness. The 
strength of the land and the length of the season permit two har- 
vests to be gathered from the same field every year. Winter wheat 
or oats can always be succeeded by a crop of corn fodder, or Hun- 
garian grass, from the same ground. This is an advantage of mat- 
oi"ial importance to small farmers. The composition of the soil 
varies with the geological formation. But the main elements — clay, 
lime, sand and vegetable mold — commixed in different proportions, 
form a rich marl or loam which the facts of harvest prove to 
be highly fruitful. The following statistics, which are given by 
Mr. Parker, may in some instances largely exceed the average 
yield, but still they illustrate the possible productiveness of the soil : 

Counties Lafiiyettc. Holt. Howard. Saline. Pwttis. 

'Ray, tons 2 or 3 — — * 2 or 3 

Wheat, bushel per acre 25 — 40 40 50 

Oats, « a _ 40 _ 50 50 

Corn, •' " 100 125 100 100 100 

Potatoes, " " __ _ _ 300 150 

Tobacco, lbs " 800 — 2000 1200 800 

Hemp, " " 2200 1500 1500 1800 1200 

These counties are not selected on account of superior fertility j 
they are taken as samples for the simple reason that I bave not 
been able to procure recent returns fi*om other counties. In some 
of these products, the figures indicate a productiveness which is 
below the average of the richest districts. The table refers to 
special harvests and farms, and does not aim to express the mean 
fertility of the several counties or of other years. The average 
yield of wheat in Missouri is from 15 to 25 bushels an acre. 

Little facts are often suggestive of the fruitfulness of the soil. 
Sweet potatoes have been raised in Missouri which weighed ten 
pounds apiece. Apples and turnips have been exhibited at our fairs 
which measured respectively six and eight inches in diameter. 
Melons and pumpkins have been produced which attained the rela- 
tive weights of 40 and 100 pounds. Corn sometimes reaches as high 
as sixteen feet, and sorghum twenty feet. In good seasons, farm- 
ers occasionally cut four tons of hay to the acre. In all these cases, 
the avei'age is of course much below these figures. These ex- 
ceptional instances are cited to show what vegetable monsters the 
richness of the soil sometimes brings forth. 

Yet, notwithstanding this wonderful wealth of soil, more than 
25,000,000 acres of land in Missouri are suffered to lie fallow. 
There are to-day 4,000,000 acres of unentered land in this State. 
Nearly all of this land is rich in agricultural or mineral resources. 
Under the Homestead Law, IGO acres can be purchased for $18. 
Improved farms can be bought at from ^5 to ^30 an acre. 

* Titnotliy 3 — Clover 4 — Hungarian Grass 5 tons. 



According to a recent estimate of the Agricultural Bureau, the 
average price of farm labor in Missoui-i is $18.00 a month with 
board, and $26.75 -svithout it. 

The Avater of Missouri is abundant and healthful. Perennial 
springs and copious streams are found in every part of the State. 
The alluvium which the Mississippi holds in solution does not impair 
the salutaiy quality of its waters. The undulating surface of Mis- 
souri affords advantages of drainage and water-power which are 
denied to level prairies. This is an important consideration. The 
necessity of thorough drainage to highly successful husbandry has 
been established, and the emigrant who would prefer the plains of 
other States to the gentle inequalities of Missouri, would betray a 
costly ignorance of his own interests. 

The products which thrive in Missouri are too numerous for 
separate enumeration. The list would be an inventory of the pro- 
ductions of the temperate zone. All the cereals grow with rank 
luxuriance. The soil is rich in the chemical elements of which the 
different grains are composed. 

Cotton is produced in the Southei-n portion of the State. The 
amount per acre varies from 200 to 400 pounds. During the war, 
it was a very profitable crop. 

The soil of Missouri is suited to the culture of Sorghum and 
Imphee. Their rank growth and great productiveness strongly 
recommend a more general cultivation of these vegetables. No 
portion of them is worthless. The juice is refined into excellent 
sugar and sj- rup, the leaves make good fodder, and the fiber of the 
stalk is manufactured into paper. 

Hemp and tobacco are two of the main staples of Missouri. 
Equal to the best growth of Kentucky and Virginia, they are a vast 
source of wealth to the State. Few ci'ops yield a larger profit. 
Missouri produces more than forty-five per cent, of the hemp of the 
United States. 

Missouri is admirably adapted to the cultivation of fruit. Apples, 
pears, peaches, plums, cherries, cm-rants, strawberries, blackberries, 
quinces, apricots and nectarines, reach a rare size and delicacy of 
flavor. Trees and vines grow rapidly and bear largely. In south- 
ern Missouri, the winters are so mild that fruit trees are seldom 
injured by inclemency of the weathei". The season, which even in 
northern Missouri permits plov/ing by the middle of March, cannot 
be very severe or protracted. In open winters, farmers have not 
infrequently done their plowing in December and January. In the 
genial climate of Missouri, the farmers may enjoy from May to 
November an uninterrupted succession of fresh fruits. Apples can 
be produced in illimitable-Jiuantities. The trees mature at least five 
years earlier than they do in Ncav England. Peach trees continue 
to bear from fifteen to twenty years, and apple trees from twenty- 
five to thirty years. Two thousand bushels of peaches have been 
gathered from a single acre. Fruit culture is one of the most lucra- 
tive branches of husbandry in Missouri. 

Unless the prophecies of scientific men are false and the obvious 
intentions of nature are thwarted, Missouri is destined to be the 



m 

vineyard of America. There has been no elaborate investigation 
8iuce the geok)gical survey of Professor Swallow. But the familiar- 
ity of the facts which his researches developed does not diminish 
tlieir truthfulness. It is estimated that there are in Southern Mis- 
souri 15,000,000 acres adapted to the culture of the grape. This 
land is situated 1,000 or 1,500 feet above the level of the ocean. 
Nature has, in many localities, moulded the surface into terraces, 
as if on purpose to facilitate the labors of the vine-dresser. Tlie 
composition of the soil is remarkably like that of the celebrated vine 
lands of Germany and France. Chemical analysis shows that the 
soil abounds -in lime, soda, potash, magnesia, and phosphoric 
acid; and these are the principal elements Avhich enter into the 
structure of the vine. The soil is dry and light, the air equable and 
comparatively vaporless; the water abundant and pure. These are 
the identical conditions under which the luscious vintages of the Old 
World attain their perfection. 

The success of our vineyards has been seriously diminished 
by the inexperience of our vine-dressers. Unfamiliarity with the 
best methods of treatment, and ignorance of the varieties best suited 
to our conditions of climate and soil, have materially lessened the 
profits of grape-growing in Missouri. 

Yet the following averages, based upon the statistics of 
Mr. HusMANN, in his excellent treatise on '' Grapes and Wine," 
show that, even under the existing disadvantages, the culture of 
the vine has been highly lucrative. 

The appi*oximate expense of preparing a vineyard is indicated 
below. 

Taiiety of Grnpe. Cost per Acre. 

Delaware SS75. 00 

Norton's Virginia 660.00 

Herbemont 625.00 

Catawba 465.00 

Concord 410.00 

The moan results per acre of one of Mr. Husmann's vineyardsj, 
from 1849 to 1865 inclusive, are as follow: 

No Vines. No. Gal. Piice per Gal. Gross Viilue. Net Profit. 

3276. 529. §1.50 §253.00 S163.00 

The cost of 21 acres, planted in 1861, was : 

1700 Norton's Virginia, at $20 per 100 $340.00 

400 Concord, " 25 " " 100.00 

350 Delaware, " 50 " " 175.00 

150 Herbemont, " 25 " " 37.50 

50 Cunningham, " 50 " ' " 25.00 

Other assorted varieties 100.00 

Expense of preparing land, $50 per acre 125.00 

Erection of trellis, $150 per acre 375.00 

Interest on capital 1 00. 00 

Total $1,377.50 



11 

The products of this vineyai'd were : 

First year, hiyers and cuttings ^389.00 

Second" '« " " 1,200.00 

Third '' " " " 2,r)00.00 

Fourth" " " " 4,000.00 

Third " 2,000 lbs Concord grapes at IGcts. net. . 320.00 

Fourth" 2,040 " " " " 24 " " .. 489.60 

Fifth " 1,030 gal. Concord, at ^2.50 per gal. 2,575.00 

1,800 " Nort. Yirg. " 4.00 " " 5,200.00 

125 " Herbemont " 3.00 " " 375.00 

40 " Delaware " 6.00 " " 240.00 

30 " Cunningham" 4.00 " " 120.00 

10 " Clinton " 3.00 " " 30.00 

50 " Other kinds" 3.00 " " 150.00 

336 lbs Hartford Prolific, at 20 cts. per lb 67. 20 

57,000 plants at ^100 per 1000 5,700.00 

Gross value .$23,305.80 

Deduct the interest on capital at 5 per cent $500. 

" cost of plants, trellis &c 1,277. 

" " labor for the 1st year 150. 

"' " " " 2nd " 300. 

^< " " " 3rd " 400. 

" " '•' " 4th " 500. 

« " " " 5th " 500.-^3,627.00 

Net profit 119,678.80 

The following exhibit shows the annual returns of Mr. M. Poe- 
schel's new vineyard : 

Vear. Area. Orosn profits. 

1863 2i acres $3,900.00 

1864 5 " .. 5,450.00 

1865 1\ « 14,237.50 

Total .$23,587.50 

The averages of Mr. Poeschel's old vineyard, from 1847 to 
1863 inclusive, were : 

Acres. Gal. per acre. Price per gal. 

4.4 986 $1.54 

The statistics of Mr. Wm. Poeschel's vineyard are : 

Year. Area. Gross pr^fi 13. 

1857 11 acres $1,402.50 

1858 1| " 275.00 

1859 1| " 375.00 

1860 2 " 1,846.80 

1861 2 " 783.50 

1862 2 " 1,742.12 

1863 2\ " 2,512.00 

1864 2| " 630.00 

1865.. 5 " 8,290.00 

9 years 201 acres $17,856.92 



15' 

Under favorable circumstances, two acres of vines yielded the 
following results : 

No. Viiriely. Giillun-'. Piice per Gal. Amount. 

850 Delaware 40 $G.OO $240.00 

100 Ilerbemont 125 3.00 375.00 

500 Concord 1,030 2.50 2,575.00 

1,200 Norton 1,300 4.00 5,200.00 

Other vines 3(57. 20 

Cuttings 5,700.00 

Total value .$14,457. 20 

Deduction of cost, labor and intei-est... 1,000.00 

Net profit of two acres in one year ^13,457.20 

These figures exhibit a profit which is certainly ample enough 
to satisfy everj^ reasonable expectation of gain. 

In 1865, the value of the grape crop in the vicinity of Hermann 
was appraised at $150,000. If we may be guided in our estimates 
by European statistics, the vinelands of Missouri are able to afibrd 
a pleasant and remunerative occupation to a population triple the 
present census of the State, and to yield an annual vintage of at least 
1,000,000,000 gallons of wine. The ph^'sical structure of Southern 
Missouri is a prophecy of rich and delicious vintages, which the 
sagacious enterprise of our citizens should speedily fulfil. 

Almost all the valuable varieties ot forest trees abound in Mis- 
souri. The pine, oak, ash, elm, vs-alnut, hickory, maple, giam, 
overcup, cottonwood, cypress, chestnut, sycamore, linn, beech, 
catalpa, and tupelo are found in different portions of the State. 
The following table, taken from Mi*. Parker's suggestive volume, 
shows the magnitude which some of these trees occasionally reach : 

Comity. Tree. Circmii. in feet. IIci;:lit. 

Dunklin Catalpa 10 90 

Cape Girardeau .....SAveet Gum 15 180 

" " White Ash 18 110 

Pemiscot Elm 22 100 

" Cypress 29 125 

Howard White Oak 28 100 

Stoddard Beech 18 120 

" Tupelo 30 120 

Mississippi Spanish Oak 28 110 

" Sycamore .....43 — 

The magnitu'le of these statements excites distrust. But I 
have no means of verifying them. If there is no error in the figures, 
the existence of such vegetable giants demonstrates a marvelous 
opulence of soil. Large districts of southern Missouri are heavily 
covered Avith timber. For the purposes of ship-building, the live oak 
of this State is unsurpassed by any that grows in the Mississippi 
Valley. In the southern counties, there are millions of acres of 
valuable yellow pine w^hich the hand of man has not touched. 
Some of these are four feet in diameter, and shoot up to a height 
of ninety feet. Energy might easily coin this timber into a fortune. 



13 

Last year about S50,000 worth of tar, rosin and turpentine was 
brought to St. Louis from these pineries and sold at a large advance 
upon the cost of manufacture. 

The cultivation of gi-ass brings the farmer liberal profits. 
Clover, timothy, red-top, ITungarian and herds-grass grow with 
spontaneous exuberance. The yield varies from one and a half to 
three tons an acre. In the cultufe of this crop, improved machin- 
ery enables the farmer to secure large returns for a slight outlay 
of labor. The richness of the herbage is favorable to stock-raising. 
Cattle occasionall}- graze all winter. It is seldom necessary to feed 
them more than two months and a half The luxuriant verdui^e of 
our alluvial bottoms and loamy uplands would fatten cattle enough 
to supply the markets of the country. The farmer has the advant- 
age of the open prairie — his herds can feed at will upon its verdant 
pasturage. The stock raiser adjacent to a prairie can make a profit- 
able use of its vast commons. The hilly region of southern Missouri 
is admirabl}' adapted to sheep grazing. A moderate use of Mis- 
souri's ability to raise sheep would remove the necessity of import- 
ing into this country 100,000,000 pounds of wool annually. 

The alpaca of Peru is a hardy animal, and thrives upon the 
scantiest pasturage. Our national Bureau of Agriculture has re- 
commended the naturalization of this animal in the United States. 
The hardihood of the alpaca and its abundant yield of wool justify 
the attempt. Southern Missouri affords the finest opportunities 
for the trial of this experiment. Our farmers may find in the 
introduction of this new breed a rich reward for their enterprise. 
In this way, portions of the State too uneven or sterile for the 
purposes of agriculture may be reclaimed to profitable uses. At all 
events, the experiment is worthy of a trial. 

The mulberry tree grows wild in Missouri. It is hardy and rank. 
"With cultivation, it would answer every want of the silk-grower. 
The Chinese silk worm, which has been imported from France and 
naturalized in this country, would find in the abundant foliage of 
the ailanthus tree rich materials for its glossy fabric. The softness 
of the climate is peculiarly favorable to the health and industry of 
this little manufacturer. 

The castor bean richly repays the labor of cultivation. An acre 
will yield from fifteen to twenty -five bushels. During the last 
four years the price has varied, in consequence of competition, 
fi'om 82.50 to $5.50 a bushel. The oil factories of St. Loiiis alone 
are able to express 200,000 bushels of castor beans annually. 
At the present price of castor oil, the manufacturers can afford 
to pay from $2.50 to §3 a bushel. 

Flax is a quick crop. In three months from the time of sowing, 
the farmer can receive the profits of his industry. The j^ield of an 
acre is from fifteen to twenty-two bushels of flaxseed; or, when flax 
and barley are sown together, from ten to fifteen bushels of flaxseed, 
and from sixteen to twenty-two bushels of barley. The average 
weight of straw to the acre is from one and a half to two tons. 
The crop is unfailing. Its certainty is a strong recommendation. 



14 

The annual capacity of our St. Louis mills for the manufacture 
of linseed oil is 250,000 bushels. For the last three years, the seed 
has been worth §2.50 a bushel. The millions of dollars Avhich this 
country is now paying for imported castor and linseed oil ought to 
enrich American producers. The culture of flaxseed and the castor 
bean challenges the favorable attention of the farmers of Missouri. 

The cultivation of the beet may yet expand into an important 
branch of Western agriculture. The enormous productiveness of 
this vegetable may enable it to enter into a profitable competition 
with cane in the manufacture of sugar. 

The necessary brevity of this article precludes a fuller discussion 
of the agricultural interests of Missouri. Our limits only permit the 
mention of our leading staples. But this brief enumeration of our 
principal products or capabilities suffices to show the rare adaptation 
of Missouri to the uses of agx-iculture. 

The Agricultural Bureau at Washington is efficiently promoting 
the interests of American husbandry. It is intelligently exploring 
the productions of the world, determining their value and testing 
their adaptation to the needs of American agriculture. Our farmers 
ought to avail themselves of every judicious and practical suggestion 
which emanates from this Bureau. They cannot afford to neglect 
the results of scientific investigation. The liberality of the general 
Government has given to Missouri 330,000 acres of public lands. 
This gift is sufficient for the organization and partial endowment of 
an Agricultural Universitj^. Such an institution, organized \ipon a 
practical basis, might render an important service to the farming 
interests of Missouri. It would elevate agriculture to a science, 
and promote alike the cultivation of the mind and the soil. It wouW 
diffuse throughout the State the latest results of scientific inquiry 
and experiment. It would suggest new, less expensive and more 
profitable processes of culture. It would liberalise the mind by 
broader views and nobler conceptions of the independence and 
dignity of the farmer's life. The husbandry which is prompt to take 
the hints derived from chemical analysis and actual trial, will alwaj'B 
produce the most fruitful harvest. 

Our soil and climate are favorable to exery staple of the temp- 
erate zone. In every direction, there are unopened avenues lead- 
ing to Avealth. Eich lands and certain competency ai'e the prizes 
which the intelligent immigrant Avill di*aAV. For the prudent and 
industrious settler there are no blanks. In this State, agriculture 
will assuredly bless its skilful follower with indepenclence and 
worldl}' store. 

St. Louis, easily accessible by river or rail, furnishes a ready 
and unfailing market for every production of the husbandman. 
The exuberant West invites the farmers of the Old Woi'ld and of 
New England to forsake their ungrateful wastes for a soil which 
will show a richer appreciation of their tillage. 



15 

MINERALS OF MISSOURI. * 



Missouri may safely challenge the world to produce its superior 
in the numl)ov, extent and value of its minerals. The immensity 
of its mineral wealth subjects even a truthful exposition to a sus- 
picion of exaggeration. The sober calculations of geology seem 
to be mere figures of rhetoric. The imperfect explorations which 
have been made have disclosed the superiority, but not the full mag- 
nitude, of the metallic resources of Missouri. Some of the vaults 
of nature's bank have been opened, but the treasure is too vast to 
be counted. The earth has hoarded in its coffers an unminted and 
incalculable wealth. The inventory of the mineral resources of 
Missouri enumerates springs — whose waters are impregnated with 
salt, sulphur, iron and petroleum — -jasper, agate, chalcedony, litho- 
graphic stone, vitreous sand, granite, marble, limestone, plastic and 
fire-clays, metallic paints, hydraulic cements, mill and grind-stones, 
fire-rock, kaolin, emory, plumbago, nickel, cobalt, zinc, copper, sil- 
ver, gold, lead, coal and iron. Most of these minerals occur in 
quantities that are literally inexhaustible. In case of many of these 
articles, the mines and quarries of Missouri could easily supply the 
market of the world. If an incomplete geologic survey and the 
rude efforts of unscientific miners, who have as yet scarcely touched 
the vast deposits of the State, have disclosed such results, we may 
justly expect far richer developments when an exhaustive investi- 
gation has been made, and systematic mining been extensively pros- 
ecuted. 

Of silver and gold, traces only have been discovered. Cobalt 
and nickel exist in profusion. 

Zinc is very abundant. Its masses have often retarded the 
mining of more vahiable ores. Thousands of tons of this metal, 
thrown away by the lead miners as a vexatious and worthless im- 
pediment to their progress, might be Avith a profitable cheapness 
reclaimed to the uses of commerce. The ore is very pure. 

Copper has been found in 15 counties. At Hinch's Mine, 800 
pounds of ore gave 272 pounds of good copper. In this locality, 
the gangue is red clay, chert and magnesian limestone. At Rives' 
Mine, the ore lies only 20 feet below the surface. The deposit is 
several feet thick, and contains a rich proportion of copper. 

The copper Hill Mine has yielded 100,000 poimds. The ore 
from the Stanton Mines gives, according to two analyses, 48.41 per 
cent of pure copper. The ore is usually a sulphuret or carbonate. 

But very little attention has been paid to the zink and copper 
mines of Missouri. The larger profits of other kinds of mining 
have diverted public enterprise from a fair trial and full develop- 
ment of these ores. The success of the copper works at Frederick- 

* The materials of tliis article are almost exclusively deriveil from the able Keports 
ef Professors Swallow and Litton in the Geological .Survey of the State of Missouri. 



town would justify more extended operations in this neglected 
branch of mining. 

Lead has been discovered in more than 500 localities. Its purple 
veins run through 20 counties and intersect an area of more than 
6,000 square miles. The richness of these mines is exhibited by 
the following statistics : 

Pounds of Lend. 

Total yield of Perry's mine to 1854 12,000,000 

" " Valfe's " 13,000,000 

" " Franklin's" from 1824 to 1854 20,000,000 

Yield of Shibboleth mine in 1811 3,000,000 

" Washington and St. Francois Counties from 

1841 to 1854 50,000,000 

Annual yield of Washington county 3,000,000 

Total " Virginia" mine 10,000,000* 

Yield of Williams' mine in 9 months of 1854 145,000* 

<' Frazer's « 1 month 100,000* 

« " " week 50,000* 

Shipped from Selma alone from 1834 to 1854 70,000,000 

Annual average of all mines from 1840 to 1854 4,000,000 

At the mine of Price, Bray & Co., 2,000 lbs. of Galena have 
been taken from a shaft which is only 10 feet deep. The ore at 
Mineral Point is in some places 18 inches thick. 

The lead is mostly sulphuret. Out of 120 specimens of ore, 
113 were sulphuret, 6 sulphuret and carbonate, and 1 sulphate. 

From 60 to 85 per cent, of the ore is pure lead. The gangue 
is generally sulphate of baryta. The ore is often found in mag- 
nesian limestone, or red clay interspersed with brown hematite, 
pyrites and ochre. The mines which have been woi'ked are mostly 
shallow. 

The shaft of Williams' mine was from 25 to 75 feet deep. 
" " Shibboleth " " 16 " 60 " 
" " Price's " 10 " 

At Granby, the lead comes to the very surface of the ground. 
In November, 1865, Mr. Putter, the Superintendent of the 
St. Louis White Lead Factory, made a careful examination of Mine 
la Motte. His report to Mr. Banker, then President of the Load 
and Oil Company, embraces the following interesting facts : The 
ore, which is almost exclusively a sulphuret, contains from 60 to 
66 per cent, of pvire lead. It is found in a limestone formation, at 
a depth of from 22 to 30 feet below the surface. The earth Avhich 
overlies the limestone varies from 6 to 12 feet in depth. Horizontal 
sheets of almost pure galena, varying from 1 to 12 inches in thick- 
ness, cover the beds of mineral ; beneath them lies a less productive 
sulphuret, which extends downward from 4 to 6 feet. The mean 
thickness is 8 inches. 

The weight of a square foot of lead, 1 inch thick, is 40 pounds. 
" « « " 8 inches " 320 " 

* Pounds of Ore. 



17 

iSornetimes :i single drill yields 100 of these nearly cubic feet in 
a month. But an average of 50 feet gives, as the product of one 
drill, 615 pounds a day, or 16,000 pounds a month. The daily 
expense of each drill is 87,50. Each furnace smelts from 40 to 
80 pigs of lead a day. An average product of 50 pigs, or 3,700 
pounds, requires the reduction of 6,166 pounds of ore. The cost of 
smelting is §37 a day. 

Ten drills are necessary to keep one furnace in blast. We are 
now ready for a summary of results : 

3,700 lbs. lead at $5,712, the average price in this 

mai-ket for the five years previous to 1861 . . . $211.51 

Deduct freight to St. Louis ic per lb S18.50 

" commission for selling, 1 per cent. 

on 8211.51 2.11 

" cost of mining, ten drills at $7.50 each 75.00 

" cost of smelting 37.00 132.61 

Profit of one furnace per day $ 78.90 

" " " " month - 2,051.40 

" « " " year 24,616.80 

At this rate 100 drills, a number not exceeding the capacity of 
a large company, would yield an average revenue of ^359,252. 

During the first year, large operations would involve a heavy 
outlay for shafts, drainage and machinery. But the cost of repairs 
and improvements could hardly exceed 30 per cent, of the year's 
earnings. 

The preceding estimates are based npon present facts, and not 
npon theoretical possibilities. They are founded upon the practical 
results of recent mining. An enlargement of present operations 
and a more extended use of existing facilities are all that is neces- 
sary to secure the success which the foregoing figures iiidicate. 

Doubtless a treatment by the economic methods of science 
would give a measureably higher iiercentage of profit. 

Perfectly pure galena contains 13.34 per cent, of sulphur and 
80.66 per cent, of lead. 

An uncrystalized specimen from Mine la Motte, analyzed by 
Dr. Litton, gave — together with traces of iron, copper and nickel 
— 13.50 per cent, of sulphur and 84.50 per cent, of lead. 

Under our present wasteful processes, the sulphurets of Mine 
la Motte sometimes yield 77.7 per cent, of pure lead. 

Except the slave labor of three proprietors, and scarcely 200 
men have ever been employed at one time in the mines of Missouri. 
The operations have commonly been desultory and the methods un- 
scientific. Miners have chiefly sought superficial deposits in soft 
clay, where the ore could easily be reached with the spade. ^Mining, 
by the systematic pi'ocess which science teaches, will probably de- 
velop far richer deposits than any yet found. 

Coal underlies a large portion of Missouri. It has already 
been discovered in 30 counties. Beds of cannel coal, 45 feet thick, 
have been found. There are 160 square miles of coal in St. Louis 

2 



18 

county. The amount of coal in Cooper county has been estimated 
at 60;000,000 tons. Under every acre of Boone county there is 
supposed to be at least $1,000 worth of coal. The deposits in the 
vicinity of Booneville cover an area of 2,000 square miles. The 
strata have a mean thickness of three feet, and are calculated to 
contain 60,000,000 tons of coal. 

The following estimates are based upon the survey of Pro- 
fessor Swallow : 

Cmiiilies. Square miles. Mean thickness. Tons of C*iiil. 

Andrew, 



2,000 10 feet 20,000,000,000 



Atchison, 
Buchanan, 
Holt, 
Platte, 
Chariton, "] 

l'^.'']^' , I 1,500 12 feet 18,000,000,000 

Liviugston, [ ' 7 ^ / 

Macon, j 

State of Missouri 26,887 8 feet 200,000,000,000 

If we allow one half of this quantity — which is more than 

34,400,000,000 tons below the calculation of Professor Swallow — 

as the true measure of our coal beds, it would take, at 100,000 tons 

a day, more than 3,000 years, at 300 Avorking days each, to exhaust 

the coal deposits of Missouri. 

Iron abounds in different portions of Missouri, but the stupend- 
ous masses of almost solid iron, found in St. Francois, Iron and 
Reynolds counties, dwarf the discoveries of other localities into 
insignificance. Before the bloomaries of Ironton, the furnaces in 
other sections of the State must pale their ineffectual fires. 
The results of Dr. Litton's investigations have been often published, 
but perhaps the use for which this article is designed will justify 
their reproduction. 

Shepherd Mountain is 660 feet high. The ore, which is magnetic 
and specular, contains. a large percentage of pure iron. The height 
of Pilot Knob above the Mississippi river is 1,118 feet. Its base 
581 feet from the summit, is 360 acres. The iron is known to extend 
440 feet below the surface. The upper section of 141 feet is judged 
to contain 14,000,000 tons of ore. 

The elevation of Iron Mountain is 228 feet, and the area of its 
base 500 acres. The solid contents of the cone are 230,000,000 tons. 
It is thought that every foot beneath the surface Avill yield 
3,000,000 tons of ore. At the depth of 180 feet, an artesian auger 
is still penetrating solid ore. 

Dr. Litton thinks that these mountains contain enough iron 
above the surface to afford for 200 years an annual supply of 
1,000,000 tons. The ore is almost exclusively specular. It yields 
56 per cent, of pure iron. The iron is strong, tough and fibrous. 

These estimates of the amount of lead, coal and iron in the 
State are founded upon the elaborate researches of geologists. 
Their deductions are based upon geologic investigations and chemical 



19 

analyses. The vrcll-considered judgments of men of Bcieiitifie orain- 
ence are certainly entitled to audience and respect. But suppone 
these calculations ave erroneous — take one hundredth part of the 
aggregates, and you still have proofs of vast and exhaustless min- 
eral riches. The fictions of Arabian wealth hardly equal the reality 
of Missouri's treasures. 

These ores underlie some of the richest land in the State. 
The owner possesses at once a fertile farm and a valuable mine. 
In some cases, it is difficult to determine whether the agricultural or 
mineral resources are most productive. Full coffers are the reward 
of either industry. A poor man can earn enough in a few months 
to purchase a mineral farm. Under prescribed conditions, less than 
$20 will secure a homestead of 160 acres. The woi'kman who, 
with a full knowledge of the fact, wonld prefer delving for a mere 
pittance in the mines of Europe to the independent ownership 
of a mine in Missouri, must be a miner who has not yet reached 
the years of discretion. He must be too young to have a mine of 
his own. 

The recent disasters in the collieries of England will doubtless 
lead to the emigration of many British miners. The loss of 600 lives 
by the late catastrophe may well attract the public attention to 
the hardships, unhealthfulness, and extreme danger of English 
coal mining. Great depth of mines, stifling heat, thin veins of 
coal, protracted toil in a recumbent position, poisonous gas, and 
deadly explosions are the inevitable conditions of British mining. 
That English miners should he willing to encounter all these priva- 
tions and perils for wages which scarcely save them from starvation 
shows a remarkable contentment under adversity, or great ignorance 
of the advantages which America offers. The mines of Missouri 
pi'esent a favorable contrast to the collieries of Britain. They are 
shallow, cool, and healthful. The thickness of the seams generally 
permits work in an erect position. Nevei", in a single instance, have 
the galleries of ou^r coal mines been the scene of a fatal explosion. 
If the unembellished facts of our mineral resources and mining 
facilities could be diffused throughout the coal districts of England, 
thousands of British miners would no longer submit to their present 
hardships, but hasten to the favored State where higher wages and 
lighter labors would soon procure them a happy competency. 
The inducements which Missouri presents to the miner are great 
and substantial. Liberal wages will reward his service and enable 
him to satisfy his love of independence and home by the early 
acquisition of a freehold. Political equalitj', social respect, and 
material success await the myriads whom a knowledge of our 
mineral resources will soon make citizens of Missouri. 



20 
MANUFACTURES OF MISSOURI. 



There is no branch of genei\al industry to which Missouri has 
paid less attention than to manufactures. The rare advantages of 
the State have not been improved. The amount of our domestic 
products is by no means commensurate with our fiicilities for 
manufacture. The last census exhibits a palpable neglect of this 
department of industry. 

In 1860, the total value of our national manufactures was 
$1,900,000,000. The workshops of the country employed 1,400,000 
persons, and supported 5,000,000. The sum which Missouri con- 
tributed to this enormous aggregate is reproachfully small. In 
1860, the total number of manufacturing establishments in the State 
was 2,800. 

Their capital was ^20,500,000 

Value of raw material 24,000,000 

" " annual product 43,500,000 

Number of workmen 21,000 

" " persons dependent upon manufactures 62,000 

A few comparisons will illustrate the insignificance of our 
manufactures. 

CAPITAL OF MANUFACTORIES IN 1860. 



New Hampshire . . . $25,900,000 
Massachusetts 133,000,000 



Ohio $58,000,000 

New York 175,000,000 



VALUE OP RAW MATERIAL. 



New Hampshire . . . $24,400,000 
Massachusetts 141,000,000 



Ohio §70,000,000 

New York 210,000,000 



VALUE OF PRODUCT. 



New Hampshire . . . $45,500,000 
Massachusetts 266,000,000 



Ohio $125,000,000 

New York 379,000,000 



NUMBER OF WORKMEN. 



New Hampshire 36,000 

Massachusetts 217,000 



Ohio 81,000 

New York 221,000 



NUMBER OP PERSONS DEPENDENT UPON MANUFACTURES. 



New Hampshire 108,000 

Massachusetts, 651,000 



Ohio 243,000 

New York 663,000 



NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS. 



New Hampshire 2,582 

Massachusetts 7,766 



Ohio 10,710 

New York 23,236 



From this table it will be observed that Missouri, with an area 
more than seven times that of the Granite State, is still inferior to 
New Hampshire in manufacturing activity. Our want of energy 
is conspicuous in the very articles which Missouri is best fitted to 
produce. The following figures show the value of special products 
for the year I860: 



21 



FURNITURE. 



Missonvi §200,000 

MasBachupett 8 3,3(55,000 



Ohio $3,700,000 

New York 7,175,000 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEJMENTS. 



Missouri $280,000 

MassachuKettB 1,740,000 



Ohio $2,690,000 

New York 3,429,000 



PIG, BAR, AND ROLLED IRON, 



Missouri ,^1,11 0,000 

3Li8saehusetts 1,694,000 



Ohio $3,000,000 

New York 3,600,000 



CAST IRON. 



Missouri $1,041,000 

Massachusetts 1,800,000 



Ohio $1,650,000 

New York 8,216,000 



JSIAOHINERY. 



Missouri $750,000 

Massachusetts 5,131,000 



Ohio $4,855,000 

New York 10,484,000 



SAWED AND PLANED LUMBER. 



Missouri $3,700,000 

Massachusetts 2,288,000 



Ohio $5,600,000 

New York 12,485,000 



FLOUR AND MEAL. 



Missouri $8,997,000 

Massachusetts 4,196,000 



Ohio $27,129,000 

New York 35,000,000 



COAL. 



Missouri $8,200 

Illinois 964,000 



Ohio $1,539,000 

Pennsylvania 2,833,000 



LEATHER. 



Missouri $368,800 

Pennsylvania 12,491,000 



Massachusetts $10,354,000 

New York 20,768,000 



BOOTS AND SHOES. 



Missouri $868,700 

Pennsylvania 8,179,000 



Massachusetts $46,440,000 

New York 10,878,000 



Massachusetts $266,000,000 

New York 379,600,000 



TOTAL PRODUCTS OP INDUSTRY. 

Missouri $43,500,000 

Pennsylvania 285,500,000 

PIG AND WROUGHT IRON IN 1865. 

Missouri $2,740,800 I TTest Virginia $3,379,600 

Kentucky 3,208,000 | Ohio ." 20,588,600 

In 1865, the value of the cotton manufactures of Massachusetts 
was nearly $100,000,000. 

But it may be justly alleged that there is an obvious unfairness 
in instituting comparisons between young and old States. Con- 
sider indulgently the youth and servile impediments of the State, 
raiike every allowance which a justice tempered with partiality may 



22 

require, and then the inference that Missouri has neglected its vast 
manufacturing facilities is unavoidable. Those statistics are ad- 
duced not to aggravate past remissness, but to stimulate future 
effort. 

An era of greater activity has already begun. In St. Louis, 
for the year ending October 1865, the United States Assessor 
reports an average of ten licenses a day for the opening of new 
establishments. During the same period, there was an increase of 
5 per cent, in the manufacture of clothing, cotton fabrics, boots, 
shoes, iron and wooden ware. 

It is obviously unnecessarj' to enumerate the articles that ought 
to be manufactured in ]\Iissouri. There is scarcely a want or a 
luxury of human life Avhich this State is not able to satisfy by 
products of domestic manufacture. 

Accessible forests of various and valuable lumber cover whole 
counties, and yet we import annually 150,000,000 feet of lumber, 
at a cost of $6,000,000. 

Admirable water power abounds in almost every part of the 
State, yet Ave allow the spendthrift streams to squander their 
energies. The daily flow of Gunther's Spring is 5,000,000 
cubic feet of water, and the discharge of Bryce's Spring is 
more than double that quantity. The water is so warm that it does 
not freeze. It is copious, unfailing, and iceless. Conditions more 
favorable to the manufacturer can hardly be imagined. This great 
power which is now running to waste should be set at the earliest 
moment to the music of machinery. It should bo taught to drive 
the wheels of saw-mills and to whirl the spindles of woolen and 
cotton mills. 'No sound reason can be offered why this State should 
not produce its own textile fabrics. The only cotton mill in 
St. Louis has met with a success that ought to lead to the erection 
of other factories. 

Indian hemp is now assuming a commercial importance among 
the great staples of the world. The rapidity with which this com- 
modity has entered into the trade of nations recalls the earlier 
years and sudden expansion of the cotton traffic. The Commissioner 
of Internal Eevenue, in his last Eeport, gives the following table 
of the exports of Indian hemp. The average weight of the bales 
is 300 pounds. 



Tonrs. 


Uiiitfd States. 


I'rjtTiCP. 


Oiojit l!iitnin. 


OUier CoiintrieB. 


Total potinila. 


1856 


20,474 


20,168 


248,651 


1,045 


87,101,400 


1857 


31,740 


24,055 


242,770 


2,555 


90,336,000 


1858 


38,308 


21,314 


197,441 


4,309 


78,411,600 


1859 


27,725 


28,713 


391,741 


1,519 


134,909,400 


1860 


1,704 


33,804 


360,725 


2,113 


119,503,800 


1861 


16,501 


36,283 


301,798 


1,426 


106,802,400 


1862 


17,807 


23,780 


365,505 


12,573 


125,899,500 


1863 


16,120 


12,555 


707,078 


13,794 


224,864,100 


1864 


16,646 


7,933 


552,748 


161,332 


221,597,700 


1865 


28,804 


8,999 


754,714 


26,260 


245,633,100 



The importation of jute into the TTnitod States is already very 
large. The extent of our imports is shown in the annexed exhibit : 

Yi-iiis. Giiniiy-b:igH. PoMiiiis. Yards of Oiimiy-cloth Pounds. Total Weight. 

1866 6,423,200 12,846,400 28,358,000 40,635,750 62,482,150 

1857 4,669,650 9,339,300 15,003,570 31,882,586 41,221,886 

1858 4,562,327 9,124,654 19,170,000 40,736,250 49,860,904 

1859 4,266,400 8,532,800 25,489,020 54,164,168 62,696,968 

1860 3,294,945 6,589,890 26,631,180 56,591,259 63,181,149 

1861 3,208,725 6,417,450 8,517,060 18,098,753 24,516,203 

1862 3,376,786 6,753,572 6,896,100 14,654,212 21,407,784 

1863 8,703,000 7,406,000 669,600 1,422,900 8,828,900 

1864 2,676,300 5,352,600 392,400 833,850 6,186,450 

1865 6,875,215 13,750,430 1,834,920 3,899,205 17,649,635 
In 1865, 305,166 bales of jute were imported into the United 

States. It is important to notice the immediate source of these, 
importations. 

From India, raw matei'ial 8,641,200 pounds. 

" Great Britain, " " 3,000,000 " 

" " ." manufactured goods.... 24,000,000 " 

" India " " 55,908,600 " 

Total 91,549,800 « 

The Commissioner very justly thinks that the 24,000,000 poimds 
of Indian fabrics which are imported from England shoixld be man- 
ufactured in this country. The raw material should be brought 
directly from the land which produces it, and wrought into gunny- 
bags and burlaps in our own factories. This would not only secure 
to the United States the profits of manufacture, but cheapen the 
product and enlai'ge our trade with India. But perhaps it is pos- 
sible for us to obviate the necessity of importing jute. It is thought 
that some of our own lands are suited to the production of Indian^ 
hemp. An experiment whose success would increase the agricul- 
tural and manufacturing prosperity of the country ought to be 
subjected to an early and exhaustive ti-ial. It may be found that 
the lands of Southern Missouri are fit for the gTowth of this staple. 
The successful culture of Indian hemp in this state would confer 
upon St. Louis a new facility for the distribution of the products of 
the Mississippi Valley. 

Flour ought to be one of our largest pi'oducts. Our streams 
furnish a cheap motive poAver and the means of transportation. 
Oar brands are the best in the Eastern Markets. Yet, in 1860, the 
product of our flour mills was less than half the quantity made in 
Illinois. 

The annual cost of imported paper is millions of dollars. Paper 
factories would not only save our citizens this great expense, but 
convert our refuse cotton, flax, straw and sorghum into sources of 
wealth. The Spanish atocha or esparto — 50,000 tons of which are 
annually imported into England for the manufacture of paper — 
would doubtless thrive on the stei-ile slopes of the Ozark range, and 
become an important industrial interest. 



24 

After the completion of the PacLflc Railroadj St. Louis will 
become an entrepot of the precious metals extracted from the mines 
of the Rocky Mountains. Then, if the interests of the West arc 
consulted, the National Government will establish in this city a 
branch mint, and individual enterprise will erect factories in 
which silver and gold Avill be fashioned into articles of use and 
ornament. In the manufacture of watches, this country has already 
declared its independence of Europe, and it is very sti'ange if 
American ingenuity and taste cannot equal the artistic skill of the 
Old World in the pi^oduction of jewelry. 

The granites of Missouri are coarse and strong. .They would 
make an excellent building material for stores and public edifices, 
but thus far the quarries have been left almost untouched. Marble 
has been brought to St. Louis from Vermont, and yet there are in 
this State numerous beds of compact, fine-gi'ained, durable marble. 
The colors are various; white, blue, and ^^ellow marbles are common. 
Other varieties are clouded, mottled with pink and purple, veined 
with spai', and capable of high polish. 

. A fine lithographic stone is found in Macoa county. A native 
specimen which is an excellent substitute for the foreign article 
has recently been exhibited in this city. Bavaria may find a rival 
in Missouri. If the rest of the quarry proves to be as good as the 
sample, it will be a valuable element in the resources of the State. 
Lithographic stone is now selling in this market at from 10 to 30 
cents a pound. Large blocks are very expensive. 

jMissouri ought to manufacture her own paints. The material 
is abundant. Bine, pink, purple, red, yellow and white paints can 
be made from the mineral which our own soil contains. White lead 
and the oxyd of zinc can be made in illimitable quantities from our 
own materials. The supply of ochres, barytes, uranium, manganese, 
^cobalt, red chalk, China clay and terra di Siena exceeds any prob- 
able demand for the manufacture of paints. 

Fire-clay, rivaling the best deposits of Europe, is found within 
four miles of the St. Louis Court House. The bed is fifteen feet 
thick, and very extensive. An analysis shows the following elements : 

Silica 53,94 

Alumina, with some peroxide of iron 33,73 

Lime 1,17 

Magnesia a trace 

Water 10,94 

Total 99,78 

Fire-brick made of this clay is capable of resisting very high 
temperatures. The excellence of the material recommends it for 
retorts, alembics, crucibles, and fui-naces. The kilns of this man- 
ufacture ought to be far more numerous. 

Formerly fire-rock was brought from remote States for the 
bloomaries at Ii'onton. This fire-rock, imported at a very heavy 
expense, seldom lasted more than five months. But a few years 
ago, a geological examination discovered a superior quarry in the 



2S 

immediate vicinity of Iron ton. This fire-rock is very refractory, 
and often resists the heat of the furnaces for 17 months, 

Missouri is adapted to the manufacture of furniture and agricul- 
tural implements. Lumber and transportation are cheap. St. Louis 
should be the factory and emporium of every kind of wood-work 
which the house and the farm require. It should manufacture 
everything from a chair to a piano — from a hand-rake to a patent 
reaper — from a wagon to a rail-car. In 1860, the value of the fur- 
niture and agricultural machinery produced in Missouri, Illinois, and 
Is^ew York, was respectively ^483,000, $3,425,000, and $10,600,000. 
This branch of manufactures, which is destined to be a prominent 
industry in Missouri, will j^et increase the capital of the State by an 
annual product of millions of dollars. 

Adepts consider the plastic clay which is found at Commerce 
fully fequal to that of Devonshire. It is as tine and almost as white 
as flour. The best potter's clay and kaolin exist in quantities that 
preclude the idea of exhaustion. All this State needs to become 
famous for its crockery and queen's ware is skilful labor from the 
potteries of Europe. The materials and capital for the manufacture 
of earthen w^are and porcelain are abundant. Art alone is requisite, 
linear Ste. Genevieve there is a bank of saccharoidal sand which 
is twenty feet in height, and miles in extent. The mass is inex- 
haustible. Tavo analyses give the following result: 

Silica ". 98,81 99,02 

Lime 0,92 0,98 

The sand is very friable and nearly as white as snow. It is 
not oxydized or discolored by heat, and the glass made from it is 
clear and unstained. One firm in this city has annually exported 
more than 3,500 tons of this sand to the glass manufactories of 
Wheeling, Steubenville and Pittsburg. The possible benefit which 
this industry might confer upon St. Louis may be inferred from the 
statistics of the glass manufactories of Pittsburg. In 1866, in the 
exclusive manufacture of bottles and window panes. 

The number of men and boys employed was 1,800 

'^ '' " tons of silica consumed 242,000 

" amount of annual wages $1,396,600 

" value of annual product $2,160,000 

There are also 19 manufactories of flint glass in which 

The number of woi'kmen is 2,300 

" amount of weekly wages $19,000 

" value of the factories $1,298,000 

« mxmber of bushels of coal 2,095,800 

" worth of yearly product $2,000,000 

There are in all 35 glass-works, employing a capital of $6,800,000 

A large portion of the silica used in the glass-factories of Pitts- 
burg is carried from Missouri. Instead of incurring the expense of 
two transportations and paying to distant establishments the cost 
of production, our own factories ought to meet all our domestic 
wants and supply the m.arkets of the West. 



26 

There have been repeated instances of the importation of lead 
from Kew York into Missouri. While the earth beneath our feet is 
rich with incalculable masses of galena, we satisfy the demaixis 
of our internal commerce by importations fi'orn the Atlantic 
frontier. There is no article made of lead that ought not to be pro- 
duced in our own factories. It is a reproach to our State that the 
orders of our lead market should be filled one thousand miles from 
its own metropolis. The few mamifacturers who are converting our 
native ore into the commodities of commerce are rapidly enriching 
themselves. 

Our iron manufactures are altogether inadequate to meet the 
wants of Missouri. With three mountains of 'iron in our midst, we 
import almost all our hardware. Ore yielding 56 per cent, of pure 
iron can be bought at Pilot Knob for $1.50 per ton. At St. Louis, 
the price is S3. 50 a ton. This ore is carried to Pittsburg, manu- 
factured into nails, reshipped to our market, and sold, exclusive 
of freight, for $125 a ton. A ton of pig iron is sold to a Boston 
manufacturer for $65. It is shipped to its destination by way of 
New Orleans. At the Eastern factor}- it is wrought into files and 
then sent back to the starting point. One-half of the material is 
lost in the process of manufacture, but the half-ton of files costs the 
St. Louis merchant more than $1,000. 

St. Louis imports railroad iron from Cambria, Pa. The cost at 
the Avorks is $85 a ton : the freight to St. Loixis is $20 a ton. Hence 
our merchants are paying more than $100 a ton for railroad iron 
which home manufactories ought to supply at one-third of this cost. 
The Union Pacific has already expended $2,200,000 for rails. Two 
years ago, this Com])any paid for rails, delivered at their destina- 
tion, $140 a ton. The present price is $120 a ton. It is estimated 
that the railroads of Missouri will need, during the year 186r, 50,000 
tons of railroad iron. This will cost, at tlie low average of $100 a 
ton, $5,000,000. The expenditure of so large a sum in our own 
foundries would save freight, pay the price of manufacture to our 
own machinists, foster domestic industries, and invigorate the 
business activities of the city. These are only representative facts. 
Hundreds of such illustrations might be presented. Our iron-mills 
ought to be equal to our resources. With coal and wood abundant 
and cheap, with masses of ore which centuries cannot exhaust, 
St. Louis, or its vicinity, ought to be the great central machine-shop 
of the West. Our iron-works should rival those of Pittsburg, 
Bii'mingham, and Sheffield. The importation of iron manufactures 
into Missouri should speedily cease. Every kind of tools and 
machinery, every article of iron or steel, from the hair spring of a 
watch to the largest engine, from a nail to a 20-iueh columbiad, 
should be fashioned in our own establishments. 

Sugar, if not a necessity, is one of the prime luxuries of life. 
The quantity of sugar consumed in the United States in 1865 was 
about 800,000,000 pounds. New York, whose refineries exceed in 
capacity of production those of all the rest of the country, compels 
the other States to pay tribute to her enterprise. But in this branch 
of manufacture; St. Louis has made creditable progress. Under 



27 

prudent and sagacious management, the St. Louis Eefinery — to 
whose able President T am indebted for the subsequent facts — has 
expanded into an establishment whose annual transactions amount 
to more than 83,000,000. In 186G, it refined 22,000,000 pounds 
of raw sugar. The cost of the sugar imported into the United 
States in 1866 was — exclusive of the import of three cents a 
pound payable in coin — §40,000,000 in gold. Missouri will doubtless 
be able to co-operate with the North West in preventing this large 
export of treasure. 

France and Germany manufacture most of the sugar which 
they use from beets of domestic growth. This sugar enjoys no 
immunities. It is secured against foreign competition by no pro- 
tective tariff. It is subject to the same diities as the product of the 
tropic cane. And yet it not only sustains itself, but siTCcessfully 
competes with the sugars of Cuba and Java. Of the present crop, 
100,000,000 pounds will be exported from France to England. There 
is no need of going to Havana for our sugars. Our Western 
prairies can equal the saccharine riches of the Indies. They yield 
as fruitful crops of the sugar beet as France or Germany. Anal- 
yses made at Chicago, and at Washington by the Agricultural 
Bureau, show that the American beet contains as large a percentage 
of pure sugar as the European beet. It has also been ascertained 
that the American beet can, in high latitudes, be preserved through 
the winter uninjured. A compan}-, with a capital of $160,000 has 
purchased 2,000 acres of land in Northern Illinois for the purpose 
of raising beets and manufacturing sugar. The experiment will 
certainly succeed, if the managers are careful to procure proper 
machinery, skilful labor and scientific supervision. The quantity 
of beet sugar which the West is capable of producing ma}" be calcu- 
lated from the estimated crop of foreign countries in 1865 : 

Holland 10,000,000 pounds. 

Poland and Sweden 30,000,000 '< 

Belgium 55,000,000 " 

Eussia 100,000,000 " 

Austria , 190,000,000 " 

Zoll Verein 370,000,000 '' 

France . .510,000,000 " 

The aggregate 1,265,000,000 *' 

is more than one-third of the annual consumption of Europe. In 
1866, the sugar crop of France was 540,000,000 pounds. 

A cultivation of the sugar beet commensurate with the area 
adapted to its growth would add hundreds of millions of dollars 
annually to the wealth of the West. In the development of this 
new growth, Missouri ought actively to participate. The mildness 
of our climate is the only obstacle to success. The temperature 
must be sufficiently cold to prevent germination during the winter 
months. If the beet sprouts, it becomes unfit for the manufacture 
of sugar. Our low latitude does not preclude the raising of the 
beet, and if our Winters are unfavorable to its saccharine qualities. 



28 

the crop can be shipped to mannfactories further North. u\ppar- 
ently nothing can prevent the culture of the beet from becoming 
one of the most profitable resources of Missouri. Beet sugar of 
domestic manufacture is not subject to any excise. Last year, a 
company of Germans, in Livingston county Illinois, engaged in the 
manufacture of beet sugar. Mr. Bender gives the following results 
of the experiment. More than 4,000 tons of beets were raised from 
400 acres of laud. The cost of cultivation was less than 84 a ton. 
The varieties of beet w^ere the ''Imperial" and "White Silesian". 
The juice contained from 9 to 13^ per cent, of sugar. The beets 
yielded 7^ per cent, of superior raw sugar, or 5 -J per cent, of a qual- 
ity fully equal to the refined ''B" sugars of New York brand. 
If better processes of manufacture had been used, this crop of 
beets would have produced 450,000 pounds of refined sugar. The 
period of granulation varied from 27 to 72 hours. This experi- 
ment, conducted under grave diflflculties, justifies sanguine hopes 
of American success in the manufacture of beet sugar. The French, 
who make ^50,000,000 Avorth of beet sugar annually, claim that 
the yield of beets is less fluctuating and more profitable than that 
of sugar cane. 

Sorghum, too, is rich in saccharine elements. From its easy 
cultivation and great productiveness, this vegetable maj^ yet become 
one of our most fruitful sources of domestic sugars. The j'ield is 
from 120 to 850 gallons of juice per acre. By the aid of late 
chemical discoveries, the saccharine matter can now be economi- 
cally granulated. Sugar and syrup, refined by the Clough process, 
are destitute of the peculiar acrid taste Avhich distinguishes sorghum. 
If sugar can be manufactured from this material as cheaply as 
from cane or beet, then sorghum will at once become one of the 
heaviest and most valuable staples of the State. The quantity of 
sorghum which Missouri can produce is almost illimitable. 

By an improved process of recent discovery, an excellent syrup 
can be profitably made from corn. A bushel of corn yields three 
gallons of syrup. The residuum is useful for fodder. If the 
chemist could only convert starch into sugar, he could transmute 
our cereals into a wealth surpassing the golden miracles of Midas. 
Corn would no longer be used for fuel. But sugar can be made from 
the juice of the cornstalk. There is now a specimen of this kind 
of sugar in the Laboratory of Washington l^niversity. It is not 
grape but genuine cane sugar. The discoveries of chemistry may 
yet render this an extensive and lucrative manufacture. But, at 
present, there is no probability that corn will sujiplant the cane and 
beet in the production of sugar. 

An exclusively agricultural State never reaches the highest 
material prosperity. The wealth of nations is largely dependent 
upon vai-iety of industries. A diversity of occupations creates a 
higher social intelligence, a more rapid interchange of ideas among 
the members of a community, better markets, a quicker circulation 
of money, greater economy of materiel, and ampler internal re- 
sources. The superintendent of the Cambria Iron Works, at 



29 

Johnstown, Pa., recently communicated to the CommiBsioner oi" 

Internal Eeveuue some very eignificant and illustrative statistics. 

The qiiantity of food annually consumed by the population 

dependent upon the company is : 



Beef cattle 2,000 head 

Sheep 3,000 



Swine 4,000 head 

Flour 20,000 bbls. 



Johnstown furnishes a ready market for all kinds of agricul- 
tural products. The supply of butter, eggs, fruits and vegetables is 
not equal to the demand. Large quantities are imported from the 
neighboring markets. Unimproved land within, seven miles of the 
Cambria furnaces is worth from $150 to 300 per acre. Similar land, 
lying beyond the influence of the Iron Works, is worth but S20 per 
acre. The effect of this manufactory upon the value of real estate 
is perceptible for fifty miles. In 1864 and 18G5, this establishment 
paid to its workmen $2,995,270. As the earnings of a manual 
laborer are mostly expended upon the means of living, a large 
proportion of this great aggregate must have gone into the pockets 
of the adjacent farmers. 

This instance may be taken as a general illustration of the 
influence of an}' kind of manufactory upon a neighborhood. Eeal 
estate and the products of the farm are always lowest where manu- 
factories do not exist. Hence the people of Missouri are buying 
the manufactures of other States at the highest prices, and paying 
for them with agricultural productions at the lowest rates. It does 
not require a very profound study of political economy to ascertain 
that it is not an enriching process to purchase costly foreign fabrics 
with cheap domestic harvests. With an abundance of raw material 
at home, we are paying external manufacturers high prices for their 
goods and incurring the heavy expense of transportation. St. Louis 
annually imports from Boston alone about $5,000,000 worth of boots 
and shoes. Instead of this outlay, other communities ought to be 
tributary to our own shoe factories. We are now paying out what 
other States ought to pay in. The great value which industry adds 
to material is all lost to "us. The cost of production impoverishes 
ns in just the proportion in which it enriches others. 

Different kinds of manufactories utilize the various raw mate- 
rial of the State. At present, only the leading staples can bear the 
cost of transportation. Many articles of economic value are wasted, 
simply because there is no home consumption. It does not pay to 
send them to a remote market — the freight consumes all the profit. 
Missouri loses millions of dollars every year by this waste of avail- 
able material. In a community where manufactories are numerous 
and varied, no commodity is lost. Every kind of raw material 
which has a commei'cial value commands its price and is fabricated 
into articles for the use of man. A thousand substances which home 
manufactories could transform into useful products now perish 
unused and worthless. 

The gravest arguments of political economy urge Missouri to 
besome a manufacturing State. By the adoption of this policy, we 
should enhance the value of real estate, raise the price of farm 



30 

products, furnish employment to thousands of artizans, utilize all 
our raw material, coin into wealth the labor of production, pay to 
our own workmen the cost of fabrication, save the expense of 
transportation from remote manufactories, improve our own 
markets, secure the golden patronage of neighboring States, enlarge 
the amount and quicken the activity of capital, increase the 
operations and profits of agriculture and commerce, ditfuse a knowl- 
edge of the arts, and promote intercourse, exchange of ideas, and 
the progress of Missouri to material greatness. 



ST. LOUIS THE COMMERCIAL CENTRE OF NORTH AMERICA, 



St. Louis is ordained by the decrees of physical nature to 
become the great inland metropolis of this continent. It can not 
escape the magnificence of its destiny. Greatness is the necessity 
of its position. New York may be the head, but St. Louis will be 
the heart of America. The stream of tratfic which must tlow through 
this mart will enrich it with alluvial deposits of gold. Its central 
location and facilities of communication unmistakably indicate the 
leading part which this city will take in the exchange and distrib- 
ution of the products of the Mississippi Yalley. St. Louis is situated 
upon the west bank of the Mississippi, at an altitude of 400 feet 
above the level of the sea. It is far above the highest floods that 
ever swell the Father of waters. Its latitude is 38 deg. 37 min. 
28 sec. north, and its longitude 90 deg. 15 min. 16 sec. west. It is 
20 miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and 200 above the con- 
fluence of the Ohio. 

Jlilcs. 

Distance by river from St. Louis to Keokuk is 200 

" " " Burlington 260 

" " " Eock Island 350 

" " " Dubuque 470 

" " " St. Paul 800 

" " " Cairo 200 

" " " Memphis 440 

" « " Vicksburg 830 

" " " New Orleans 1,240 

« " « Louisville 580 

" " " Cincinnati 720 

« " « Pittsburgh 1,200 

" " " Leavenworth 500 

" « " Omaha 800 

" " « Sioux City 1,000 

" " " Fort Benton 3,100 



31 

Distance bv rail from St. Louis to Indianapolis 200 

" ^ " " Cliicago 280 

'< " " Cincinnati 340 

" " " Cleveland 470 

" " " Pittsburgh C50 

" " « Buifalo 650 

« « « New York 1,000 

" " " Lawrence B20 

" « « Denver 880 

« « « Salt Lake 1,300 

" « " Virginia City 1,900 

« " " San Francisco 2,300 

St. Louis very nearly bisects the direct distance of 1,400 miles 
between Superior City and the Balize. It is the geographical centre 
of a valley which embraces 1,200,000 square miles. In its course 
of 3,200 miles, the Mississippi borders upon Missouri 470 miles. 
Of the 3,000 miles of the Missouri, 500 lie within the limits of our 
own State. St. Louis is mistress of more than 16,500 miles of river 
navigation. 

This metropolis, though in the infanc}^ of its greatness, is already 
a lai'ge city. Its length is about eight miles, and its width three. 
Suburban residences, the outposts of the grand advance, are now 
stationed six or seven miles from the river. The present population 
of St, Louis is 204,300. In 1865, the real and personal property 
of the city was assessed at $100,000,000, and in 1866 at $126,877,000. 

St. Louis is a well built city, but its architecture is rather sub- 
stantial than showy. The wide, well paved streets, the spacious 
levee, and commodious warehouses ; the mills, machine shops, and 
manufactories; the fine hotels, churches, and public buildings; the 
universities, charitable institutions, public schools and libraries, 
constitute an array of excellences and attractions of which any 
city may justly be proud. The Lindell and Southern Hotels are 
two of the largest and most magnificent structures which the world 
has ever dedicated to public hospitality. The Lindell is itself a 
village.* 

The appearance of St. Louis from the eastern bank of the 
Mississippi is impressive. At East St. Louis, the eye sometimes 
commands a view of 100 steamboats lying at our levee. Not- 
withstanding the departure of more than 40 boats for Montana, 
there are at this date 70 steamers in the port of St. Louis. 
A mile and a half of steamboats is a spectacle which naturally 
inspires large views of commercial greatness. The sight of our 
levee, thronged with busy merchants and covered with the 
commodities of every clime, from the peltries of the Eocky 
Mountains to the teas of China, does not tend to lessen the mag- 
nitude of the impression. 

*0n the 30th of last March, this superb edifice was burned to the ground. But the 
public-spirit-cd citizens of St. Louis have formally resolved to restore it in all its original 
magnificence. More than $800,000 have already been raised for this object. 



32 

The growth of St. LouiS; though greatly retarded by social 
iuatitutions, has been rapid. The population of the city was in 

1769 891 

1795 925 

1810 1,400 



1820 

1828 
1830 
1833 



4,928 
5,000 
5,852 
6,397 



1835 8,316 



1837 12,040 

1840 16,469 

1844 34,140 

1850 74,439 

1852 94,000 

1856 125,200 

1859 185,587 

1866 ..204,327 

In 1866, 1,400 buildings, worth $3,500,000, were erected in 
St. Louis. The total number of structures in the city is now 
about 20,000, and their approximate value is ^50,000,000. 

At the present rate of decennial increase, St. Louis in 1900 
would contain more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. This number cer- 
tainly seems to exceed the present probability of realization, but the 
future growth of St. Louis, vitalized by the mightiest forces of a 
free civilization and quickened by the exchanges of a continental 
commerce, ought to surpass the rapidity of its past development. 
~ ' ~ tate in St. Louis was in 



The Eeal E 

1859 assessed at 

1860 " " 

1861 " " 

1862 " " 



?69,846,845 
73,765,670 
57,537,415 
40,240,450 



1863 assessed at, 

1864 " '' . 

1865 " " . 

1866 " " . 



$49,409,030 
53,205,820 
73,960,700 
81,961,610 



Li 1866, the valuation of the Real and Personal property in 
St. Louis on which the State and Military taxes were levied 
was S126,877,000. 

The amount of Dut'ies collected at the St. Louis Custom House 



1861 $30,183.96 

1862 20,404.70 

1863 36,622.09 



1864 $76,448.43 

1865 586,407.47 

1866 785,652.30 



The amount of imposts paid at the port of Chicago during the 
fiscal year ending Dec. 81, 1866, was $509,643.39 in coin. 

The duties collected during the same period at this port 
amounted to $60,176.45 in currency, and 780,706.97 in gold. 

Only about one-fifth of the customs levied on goods imported 
into St. Louis are collected at this point. vSt. Louis is only a Port 
of Delivery. The imposts upon our foreign merchandise are chiefly 
paid at the Ports of Entry. 

The present system of foreign importation is unfavorable to 
the commercial interests of St. Louis. This city should be made a 
Port of Entry, The goods of St. Louis importers are noAv subjected 
to great delay and expense at New Orleans. The municipal author- 
ities do not permit the merchandise to lie on the landing more than 
five days. If the requisite papers are not made out within that time, 
the goods are sent to bonded warehouses. This contingency not 
unfrequently occurs. The press of business or official slowness 
often delays the issue of the Custom Ilouse pass beyond the spec- 



33 

ified time, and tlien the western importer is subject to the serious 
expense which the drayage to the warehouse, loss of time, and fre- 
quent damage to the goods involve. The gravity of this emhan*ass- 
ment forces many of our merchants to pay the duties at New Orleans. 
This course saves delay and expense. The Eevcnue laws recognise 
no distinction between the actual payment of duties and the trans- 
portation bond. But practically there is an important difference. 
In case the impost is paid at New Orleans, the goods are almost 
always forwarded within five days; but when the merchandise is 
shipped under a transportation bond^the detention is ver}^ frequently 
ten days, and sometimes a month. In the former instance, an}'- 
package can be forwarded as soon as the duty is paid; but, in the 
latter case, the imports cannot be dispatched to their destination till 
the entire shipment has passed the inspection of the Custom House. 
In consequence of these injust discriminations against St. Louis, 
many of our largest importers, notwithstanding the inconvenience 
of keeping gold on deposit at New Orleans, prefer to pay the duties 
on their foreign goods at the Port of Entry. 

An excessive and unnecessary delay at the New Orleans Custom 
House recently subjected one of our merchants to a loss of $8 a ton 
on a shipment of iron. 

Last season, another of our importers ordered a large stock 
of Christmas goods. The ai-ticles reached New Orleans in season, 
but were detained there till after the holidays. They must now be 
kept, with loss and deterioration, for another year; and before 
next Christmas, they may become comparatively worthless by 
changes of mode and new directions of public taste. 

These examples illustrate the importance of time in com- 
mercial transactions. 

The Government could easily obviate all the difficulties which 
our importers now experience by making St. Louis a Port of Entr}'. 
The commercial embarrassments of the present system need imme- 
diate removal. In the event of the proposed change, frauds upon 
the Government could be prevented by reshipping the goods at 
New Oi'leans under the eye of the Custom House authorities, 
keeping them during the voyage under lock and key, and, if neces- 
sarj', subjecting them on the passage to the surveillance of a 
Eevenue officer. During the rebellion, the shipments of merchandise 
to southern ports were placed under similar supervision. The 
satisfactory operation of this system, amid all the liabilities to 
abuse which exist in times of civil tixrbulence, warrants the convic- 
tion that the proposed plan w^ould, in a period of peace, prove 
eminently successful. 

If Congress respects commercial rights/ St. Louis will soon 
become a Port of Entry, 

From the records of the United States Assessor, it appears 
that in 1865 the sales of 612 St. Louis firms amounted to 
$140,688,856. Eor the same year, the imports of this city reached 
an aggregate of §235,873,875. 

Tiie manufactures of St. Louis constitute an important element 
in our commercial transactions. In 1860, the capital invested in 

3 



34 

mannfaetnres Avas $9,205,205, and the value of the product was 
1^21,772,323. In 1866, the mills of this city made 820,000 barrels 
of flour. 

In 1865, our receif>ts of grain, including flour, were 17,657,250 bushels. 
" 1S66, " " " 20,855,280 " 

" 1865, exports " " 13,427,000 " 

" 1866, " " " 18,680,500 " 

St. Louis, though the eighth city in the United States in popu- 
lation, ranks as seventh in the importance of its manufactures. 
Missouri might profitably imitate the activity of its metropolis. 

The extent of our social and commercial intercourse with the 
rest of the world may be inferred from the postal statistics of this 
department. In 1865, the number of letters which passed through 
the St. Louis Post Office for distribution, mail, or delivery, was 
about 11,000,000. In 1866, the total sum of postage collected, 
including the sale of stamps, was more than $195,000; and the 
amount of money orders paid was $145,000. In postal importance, 
St. Louis is the fifth city of the Union. 

The earnings of our railroads indirectly exhibit the magnitude 
of our trade. For the fiscal year of 1865, the total receipts of 
the Iron Mountain were $424,700; Xorth Missouri $1,013,000; 
Missouri Pacific and Southwest Branch, $1,939,000; Hannibal and 
St. Joseph, $2,000,000. In 1866, the earnings of the Missouri Pacific 
were $2,670,000. The returns of the Union Pacific for November 
1866 were $77,869. The Directors estimate their monthly receipts 
for 1867 at $100,000. 

In 1865, the total number of passengers, by river or rail, who 
made St. Louis their destination, or a point of transit, amounted to 
1,180,000; and, in 1866, 1,250,000. 

In 1866, the number of houses and firms doing business in 
St. Louis was 5,500, and the number of commercial licenses issued 
during the same year was 4,800. 

The tonnage owned and enrolled in the district of St. Louis in 
1865 was 97,000 tons. On the first of January 1867, the amount 
of our steam tonnage, exclusive of a large number of barges and 
canal boats which made occasional trips, was 106,600 tons, with a 
carrying capacity of 186,000 tons, and a value of 10,376,000. 

Our commerce is aided by ample banking facilities. There 
are in St. Louis, in addition to 20 private banks, 38 Insurance 
Companies, 31 incorporated banking institutions, with an actual 
capital of $15,000,000. The character of our banks stands deserv- 
edly high in the financial w^orld. The development of the territories 
is bringing large deposits to our banks, creating new demands for 
capital, and extending the channels of circulation. 

Our trade with the mountains is large and rapidly increasing. 
In 1865, 20 boats set out from this port for Port Benton — which is 
more than 3,000 miles from St. Louis — with a total freight of 
6,000,000 pounds. 

In 1866, 50 boats sailed for Port Benton, with an aggi-egate 
tonnage of 10,284 tons. In three instances the cost of assorted 
sroods was- as follows: 



60 

13 tons of mercliaiidise 81 2,000 

35 "' '' 40,000 

40 " " 65,000 

Mean cost per ton 1,300 

The agent who furnishes these facts feels authorized by his 
experience in the trade of the Upper Missouri to appraise a ton of 
Montana merchandise at $1,000. 

The following table is an approximate estimate, based upon 
the preceding data, of our commerce with Montana, foi' the year 1866 : 

Number of boats 50 

" " passengers 2,500 

Pounds of freight 13,000,000 

Value of merchandise $6,500,000 

The trade across the plains is of still greater magnitude. The 
overland freight from Atchison alone has increased from 3,000,000 
pounds in 1861 to 21,500,000 in 1865. 

The Overland Dispatch Company have courteously furnished 
me with estimates, founded upon their own transactions, of our 
total commerce with the territories in 1865. These figures do not 
include the Fort Benton trade. 

Number of passengers east and west by overland coaches 4,800 
" u « a i^y trains and pri- 
vate conveyances 50,000 

Number of wagons 8,000 

" " cattle and mules 100,000 

Pounds of freight to Plattsmouth 3,000,000 

'^ " Leavenworth City 6,000,000 

" " Santa Fe 8,000,000 

" « St. J oseph 10,000,000 

« " Nebraska City 15,000,000 

" " Atchison 25,000,000 

Government freight 50,000,000 

Total number of pounds 117,000,000 

Amount of treasure carried by express S3,000,000 

" " " by private conveyance 30,000,000 

The Overland Express charge 3 per cent, for the transportation 
of bullion. This high commission and the hostilit}' of the Indian 
tribes induced manj- miners to send their gold East by the way of 
San Francisco to Panama. 

In 1866, the total assay of bullion in the United States was 
881,389,540. Of this aggregate, $73,032,800 came from the Pacific 
and Eocky Mountain mines. Upon the usual estimate that 25 per 
cent, of the gold and silver escapes assay, the entire product of the 
country in 1866 was $100,000,000. The increase of population in 
the gold regions, the richness of recent discoveries, and greater 
activity in mining operations indicate a still larger aggregate in 1867. 

In 1866, the Avestward traflic of Leavenworth amounted to 
$50,000,000. This aggregate includes the Santa F6 trade, whose 



36 

value last year was about $35,000,000. The Western trade of 

Nebraska City was in 

1863 16,800,000 pounds. 

1864 23,000,000 " 

1865 44,000,000 " 

1866 30,000,000 '' 

The freightage from this point across the Plains required, in 

1865, 11,739 men, 10,311 wagons, 10,123 mules, and 76,596 oxen. 
So great is the length of the overland routes that the trains are 

able to make but two through trips a year. 

The Union Pacific Railroad already extends to Fort Harker. 

This materially shortens the extent of oveiiand freightage. 

Distance from St. Louis to Fort Harker 508 miles. 

" " Fort Harker to Denver 372 " 

" " ■ " " Salt Lake City 800 " 

" " " " Virginia City 1432 " 

The length of these lines of transportation, the slowness of our 
present means of communication, and the magnitude of our terito- 
rial population and trade, forcibly illustrate the necessity of a 
Pacific Railraod. 

The foregoing summaries exhibit the commerce of the Missis- 
sippi Valley with the mountains. But while St. Louis does not 
monopolize the trade of the gold regions, it yet sends to the terri- 
tories by far the largest portion of their supplies. Even in cases 
where merchandise has been procured at intermediate points, it is 
probable that the goods were originally purchased at St. Louis. 

During the rebellion, the commercial transactions of Cincinnati 
and Chicago doubtless exceeded those of St. Louis. The very 
events which prostrated our trade stimulated theirs into an un- 
natural activity. Their sales were enlarged by the traffic which 
was wont to seek this market. Our loss was their gain. 

The Southern trade of St. Louis was utterly destroyed by the 
blockade of the Mississippi. The disruption by civil commotions of 
our commercial intercourse with the interior of Missouri was nearly 
complete. The "trade of the Northern States, bordering upon the 
Mississippi, was still unobstructed. But the merchants of St. Louis 
could not afford to buy commodities which they were unable to sell, 
and country dealers would not purchase their goods where they 
could not dispose of their produce. Thus St. Louis, with ever}*- 
market wholly closed or greatly restricted, was smitten with a 
commercial paralysis. The prostration of business Avas general 
and disastrous. No comparison of claims can be just which ignores 
the circumstances that, dui'ing the rebellion, retarded the com- 
mercial growth of St. Louis, yet fostered that of rival cities. 

Nothing more clearly demonstrates the geographical superior- 
ity of St. Louis than the action of the Government during the war. 
Notwithstanding the strenous competition of other cities, our facil- 
ities for distribution and a due regard for its own interests com- 
pelled the Government to make St. Louis the Western base of sup- 
plies and transportation. During the rebellion, the transactions of 



the Government at this point were very hirge. General Parsons, 
Chief of Transportation in the Mississippi Valley, submits the 
following as an approximate summary of the operations in hie 
department from 1860 to 1865 : 

Amount of Transportation. 

Cannon and Caissons 800 

Wagons 13,000 

Cattle 80,000 

Horses and Mules 250,000 

Troops 1,000,000 

Pounds of Military Stores 1,050,000,000 

General Parsons thinks that full one half of all the trans- 
portation employed by the Government on the Mississippi and its 
tributaries was furnished by St. Louis. 

From September 1, 1861, to December 31, 1865, General Haines, 
Chief Commissary of this department, expended at St. Louis, for the 
purchase of subsistence stores, $50,700,000. 

During the war. General Myers, Chief Quartermaster of this 
department, disbursed at this city, for supplies, transportation and 
incidental expenses, $180,000,000. 

The National exigencies forced the Government to select the 
best point of distribution. The choice of the Federal authorities is 
a conclusive proof of the commei'cial superiority of St. Louis. 

The conquest of treason has restored to this mart the use of 
its natural facilities. Trade is rapidly regaining its old channels. 
On its errands of exchange, it penetrates every State and Territory 
in the Mississippi Valley, from Alabama and ISTew Mexico to Minne- 
sota and Montana. It navigates every t^tream that pours its trib- 
utary waters into the Mississippi. It visits the islands of the sea, 
traverses the ocean, and exploi'es foi'eign lands. 

Before the war, almost all the Western trade in coffee and 
sugar was carried on by way of New Orleans. The interruption 
of traflfic, by the blockade of the Mississippi Eiver, changed the 
channels of commerce. By the necessities of the country, trade was 
forced into unnatural courses. New York, by its limitless capital 
and enterprise, has obtained a brief control over a trade that right- 
fully belongs to the West. As soon as the country regains its 
normal condition and commerce resumes its natural flow, the West 
will inevitably assert its former and legitimate ascendency in this 
branch of business. Most of the coffee used in the West is brought 
from Rio Janeiro. Water carriage is always the cheapest means 
of transportation. The rail from New York cannot compete with 
the river from New Orleans. Besides, the Gulf route is the shortest 
distance between St. Louis and Rio Janeiro. The cost, then, of im- 
porting Rio Coffee to this point is much less by New Orleans than 
by New York. An urgent necessity exists for the establishment of 
lines of steamers between New Orleans and South American ports. 

A direct trade with the West Indies and South America would, 
from our superior facilities of transportation, not only place the 
control of the grocery business of the Northwest in our hands, 



38 

but also greatly enlat'ge our exportatioiis. The Wetst cousumos far 
more coffee proportionately than the East. South America uses 
large quantities of Western flour. There would then be a steady 
and growing interchange of commodities between these countries. 

Missouri flour is the best in the American market. This is an 
important advantage in favor of St. Louis. It is a well-ascertained 
fact that the flour made from grain grown in this latitude bears the 
voyage to South American ports better than any other. The ex- 
perience of exporters verifies this assertion. Our flour is then not 
only the finest in the United States for home consumption, but also 
the best for exportation to tropical countries. 

St. Louis ought to cultivate more intimate commercial relations 
with Brazil. Prior to our acquisition of Russian America, the area 
of this country avrs 500,000 square miles larger than that of 
the United States. Its present population is nearly 10,000,000. 
Of its principal maritime cities. 

Para contains 30,000 inhabitants. 

Pernambuco 80,000 " 

Bahia 130,000 " 

Rio Janeiro 400,000 " 

The exports of Bi-azil are coffee, hides, sugar, caoutchouc, rose- 
wood, mahogany, Brazil wood, cinchona, logwood, cotton, rice, 
sarsaparilla, sassafras, ipecacuanha, cacao, vanilla, cloves, cinna- 
mon, and tamarinds. 

In 1856, the value of the commodities imported from Brazil 
into the United States was 

Brazil wood $32,000 

" nuts 43,000 

Rosewood 81,460 

Hair 138,240 

Sugar 513,450 

India rubber 771,320 

Raw hides 1,930,220 

Coffee 16,091,700 

In 1857, this country imported from Brazil 197,000,000 pounds 
of coffee, worth $17,980,^000. In the same year, Brazil exported to 
foreign markets 256,000,000 pounds of sugar. 

In exchange for these valuable commodities, Brazil needs lard, 
pork, haras, flour, pine lumber, agricultural implements, textile 
fabrics, and other manufactures. These articles are the chief staples 
of western growth and production. The Mississippi Valley is able 
to supply most of the commercial wants of Brazil. St. Louis, as the 
main distributing point of the West, ought to take the lead in this 
grand system of mercantile exchanges. A vast commerce must soon 
spring up between the metropolis of this Valley and the ports of 
South America. But, at present, our exports to Brazil are entirely 
disproportioned to our ability to meet the commercial wants of 
that country. In 1854 — 55, the trade of England with South America 
was five times as large as that of the United States. 
In 1860, the value of oxir American imports from Brazil Avas $20,000,000 

" '' " exports to " " 6,000,000 



39 

These figures show that this countiy is not a successful compet- 
itor for the rich trade of South America. More energetic rivulti 
are euriching themselves with the opulence of this commerce. 

The wants of the ITnited States and Brazil are complementary. 
Each country needs the productions of the other. The AVest is the 
fruitful and main source of those commodities which South America 
requires. St. Louis, as the chief emporium of the Mississippi Valley, 
is able, by the vast expansion which it can cause in this tropic 
trade, to turn the commercial balance in favor of the United States 
and itself become the central distributing point of Brazilian staples. 

But St. Louis can never realize its splendid possibilities without 
eifort. The trade of the vast domain lying east of the Eocky 
Mountains and south of the Missouri river is naturally tributary 
to this mart. St. Louis, by the exercise of forecast and vigor, can 
easily control the commerce of 1,000,000 square miles. But there 
is urgent need of exertion. Chicago is an energetic rival. Its 
lines of railroad pierce every portion of the Northwest. It draws 
an immense commerce by its network of railways. The meshes 
which 80 closely interlace all the adjacent country gather rich treas- 
ures from the tides of commerce. Chicago is vigorously extending 
its lines of road across Iowa to the Missouri river. The completion 
of these roads will inevitably divert a portion of the Montana trade 
from this city to Chicago. The energ}^ of an unlineal competitor 
may usurp the legitimate honors of the imperial heir. 

St. Louis can not afford to continue the masterly inactivity 
of the old regime. A traditional and passive trust in the eflScacy 
of natural advantages will no longer be a safe policy. St. Louis 
must make exertions equal to its strength and worthy of its 
opportunities. It must not only form great plans of commercial 
empire, but must execute them w^ith an energy defiant of failure. 
It must complete its projected railroads to the mountains, and 
span the Mississippi at St. Louis with a bridge whose solidity 
of masonry shall equal the massiveness of Roman architecture, 
and whose grandeur shall be commensurate with the future 
greatness of the Mississippi Yalley. The structure whose arches 
will bear the transit of a continental commerce should vie with the 
great works of all time, and be a monument to distant ages of the 
triumph of civil engineering and the material glory of the Groat 
Bepublic. 

Since these sentences were written, a company, composed of 
men of large means and sterling integrity, has been incorporated 
for the purpose of erecting a bridge across the Mississippi at this 
point. The executive and financial ability of its members is a 
guarantee of efficient action and an early accomplishment of this 
great work. The length of the In-idge, together with its approaches, 
will be about 3500 feet, and the probable cost ^5,000,000. The 
material of the structure will be steel. Chas. K. Dickson is Pres- 
ident of the Com.pany, and James B. Eads, the distinguished 
iDventor, is Chief Engineer. 



40 

The initial steps for the erection of a bridge across the Missouri 
at St. Charles have already been taken. The work should be pushed 
forward with untiring energy to its consummation. 

The iron, stone and timber necessary for these structures can 
be obtained within a few miles of St. Louis, and the greater part 
of the material can be transported by water. The construction 
of public works whose cost would be millions of dollars would 
afford employment to thousands of laborers, and give fresh impulse 
to the prosperity of St. Louis. 

A full and persistent presentation of the superior claims of 
Carondelet ought to induce the Government to establish a naval 
station at that point. The supply of labor and materiel which a 
navy yard would require would be another soui*ce of wealth to 
Missouri and its metropolis. 

The effect of improvements upon the business of the city may 
be illustrated by the operations of our city^ elevator. The elevator 
cost $450,000, and has a capacity of 1,250,000 bushels. It is able 
to handle 100,000 bushels a day. It began to receive grain in 
October 1865. Before the first of January 1866, its receipts 
amounted to 600,000 bushels, 200,000 of which were brought direcily 
from Chicago- The total receipts <at the elevator in 1866 were 
1,376,700 bushels. Grain can now be shipped, by way of St. Louis 
and New Orleans, to New York and Europe twenty cents a bushel 
cheaper than it can be carried to the Atlantic by rail. 

The facilities which our elevator affords for the movement of 
cereals have given rise to a new system of transportation. The 
Mississippi Valley Transportation Comjiany has been organized for 
the conveyance of grain to New Orleans in barges. Steam tugs of 
immense strength have been bi;ilt for the use of the company. 
The}' carry no freight. They are simply the motive power. They 
save delay by taking fuel for the round trip. Landing only at the 
large cities, they stop barely long enough to attach a loaded barge. 
By this economy of time and steady movement, they equal the 
speed of steamboats. The Mohawk made its first trip from St. Louis 
to New Orleans in six days, with ton barges in tow. The manage- 
ment of the barges is precisely like that of freight cars. The barges 
are loaded in the absence of the tug. The tug arrives, leaves a 
train of barges, takes another and proceeds. The tug itself is 
always at work. It does not lie at the levee while the barges are 
loading. Its longest stoppage is made for fuel. The power of these 
boats is enormous. The tugs plying on the Minnesota river some- 
times tow 30,000 bushels of wheat apiece. The freight of a single 
trip would fill 85 railroad cars. 

Steamboats are obliged to remain in port two or three days for 
the shipment of freight. The heav}- expense which this delay and 
the necessity for large crews involve is a grave objection to the old 
system of transportation. The service of the steam tug requires 
but few men, and the cost of running is relatively light. The 
advantages which are claimed for the barge system are exhibited 
liy the (bllowino; table: 



41 

Tug and bars<?s. Steamboats. 

Stoppage at intermediate points 2 hours 6 hours. 

" " terminal " 24 '' 48 " 

Crew 15 50 

Tonnage 25;000 tons 1,500 tons. 

Daily expense $200 $1,000 

Original cost S75,000 $100,000 

In addition to the ordinary precautions against fire, the barges 
have this unmistakable advantage over steamboats, they can be 
cut adrift from each other, and the fire restricted to the narrowest 
limits. The greater safety of barges ought to secure for them lower 
rates of insurance. The barges are very strongly built, and have 
water tight compartments for the movement of grain in bulk. The 
transportation of grain from Minnesota to ISTew Orleans by water 
costs no more than the freightage from the same point to Chicago. 
After the erection of a floating elevator at New Orleans, a boat 
load of grain from St. Paul will not be handled again till it reaches 
the Crescent City. 

At that port, it will be transferred by steam to the vessel which 
will convey it to New York or Europe. The possible magnitude of 
this trade may be inferred from the fact, that in 1865 Minnesota 
alone raised 10,000,000 bushels of wheat. Three quarters of this 
harvest could have been exported, if facilities of cheap transportation 
had offered adequate inducement. In 1866, higher prices — Avhieh 
produced the same practical result as cheaper freightage — led to the 
exportation of 8,000,000 bushels. Some of this grain belonged to 
the crop of the preceding year. But this fact does not at all affect 
the question of carriage. 

From the 1st of May to the 25th of December 1866, the tow 
boats of this city transported 120,000 tons of freight. This new 
scheme of convejang freight by barges bids fair to revolutionize the 
whole carrying trade of our Western waters. It will materially 
lessen the expense of heavj^ transit, and augment the commerce of 
the Mississippi Eiver in proportion to the reduction it effects in the 
cost of transportation. The improvement which facilitates the 
carriage of our cereals to market, and makes it more profitable for 
the farmer to sell his grain than to burn it, is a national benefit. 
This enterprise, which may j'et change the channel of cereal trans- 
portation, shows what great results a spirit of progressive energy 
may accomplish. 

The mercantile interests of the "West imperatively demand the 
improvement of the Mississippi and its main ti'ibutaries. This is a 
work of such prime and transcendent importance to the commerce 
of the country, that it challenges the co-operation of the Government. 
A commercial marine which annually transfers tens of millions of 
passengers, and cargoes whose value is hundreds of millions, ought 
not to encounter obstructions which human effort can remove. 
The yearly loss of property, from the interruption of communication 
and wreck of boats, reaches a startling aggregate. 

For the accomplishment of an undertaking so vital to its muni- 
cipal interests, St, Louis should exert its mightiest energies. The 



42 

prize for which competition strives is too splendid to be lost by 
default. The Queen City of the West should not voluntarily abdicate 
its commercial sovereignty. 

If the emigrant merchants of America and Europe, who re- 
cognize in the geographical position of St. Louis the guarantee of 
mercantile supremacy, will become citizens of this metropolis, they 
will aid in bringing to a speedier fulfilment the prophecies of its 
greatness. The current of Western trade must flow through the 
heart of this valley. 

In the march of progress, St. Louis will keep equal step with 
the West. Located at the intersection of the river which traverses 
zones, and the railway which belts the continent, with divergent 
roads from this center to the circumference of the country, St. Louis 
enjoj'S commercial advantages which must inevitably make it the 
greatest inland emporium of America. The movement of our vast 
harvests and the distribution of the domestic and foreign merchand- 
ise required by the myriad thousands who will, in the near future, 
throng this valley, will develop St. Louis to a size proportioned to 
the vastness of the commei'oe it will transact. This metropolis will 
not only be the center of Western exchanges, but also, if ever the 
seat of Government is transferred from its present locality, the 
capital of the nation. 

St. Louis, strong with the energies of youthful freedom, and 
active in the larger and more genial labors of peace, will greet the 
merchants of other States and lands with a friendly welcome, afford 
them the opportunities of fortune, and honor their services in the 
achievement of its greatness. 



HAILROADS OF MISSOURI. 



The railroad system of Missouri is exhibited in the following 
tabular statement : 

RuilroatlH. Miles. 

Cairo and Fulton 37 

Missouri Yalle^^ 52 

Atlantic and Pacific 88 

Iron Mountain 87 

North Missouri 168 

Hannibal and St. Joseph 233 

Missouri Pacific 283 

Total length of railroads in operation within the State 948 

A vast enlargement of our railroad facilities is contemplated. 
More than 10,000 miles of new lines have been projected on the 
west side of the Mississippi. A quarter of a century may elapse 
before the completion of these extensions ; yet the very conception 
of them shows that the public mind is alive to the importance of 



43 

ampler means of commuiueation with the vStates and Territories of 
the far "West. Most of these roads have received grants of hind 
from the Government, and upon some of the lines the work is 
already far advanced. The terminal points of the most import- 
ant roads are : 

Superior City and Xew Orleans, via St. Paul, St. Louis and 
Memphis. 

St. Louis and San Francisco, via Kansas City and Salt Lake. 

Kansas City and Fort Benton, via Omaha. 

Leavenworth and Galveston, via Lawrence. 

St. Louis and San Francisco, via Albuquerque. 

HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD. 

This road is 233 miles long. It traverses one of the finest 
sections of the State. It gives an outlet to a region rich in agri- 
cultural productions. It is of prime importance not only to local 
business, but to that through trade with the far West whose initial 
point lies north of St. Louis. It is an incalculable advantage to 
North Missouri. Without it, the products of the interior would lose 
much of their value. 

This road has received a large grant of public lands. The tract 
still owned by the company contains nearly 500,000 acres. These 
lands are rich in agricultural and mineral wealth. They are situated 
in a temperate and healthful climate. They are accessible and cheap. 
The price varies from $2.40 to $15.00 an acre. To the settler who 
is unable to pay cash, a credit of two or even ten years is granted. 
No defect of title impairs the value of these lands. The act of 
Congress, vesting in this company the right of ownership, is an 
absolute guarantee of title. The fare of immigrants w^ho pass over 
the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad in quest of a location is re- 
funded in the event of their buying lands of the Company. The 
liberality of the terms of payment, as well as the essential value of 
the property, ought to procure an early sale of these valuable 
freeholds. 

North Missouri is largely peopled w^ith settlers from New 
England. Colonies of Eastern men are forming communities 
throughout this section of the State, and reproducing the institutions 
of New England upon the prairies of the West. Some large-minded 
and opulent Eastern gentlemen, who hold their wealth in trust for 
the accomplishment of beneficent objects, are generously fostering 
the growth of Western culture. Prominent among these is 
Nathaniel Thayer, Esq., of Boston. Several years ago, he endowed 
a Professorship in Washington University, and now, in liberal 
co-operation with other gentlemen, he has organized the ^'Thayer 
Institute" at the town of Kidder. It is the design of the founders 
to establish an institution of sound learning, and to insure its life 
by an ample endowment. 

The educational facilities which exist in the New England towns 
along the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad are justly 
entitled to the consideration of Eastern men who are seeking homes 
.in Missouri. 



44 



NORTH MISSOURI RAILROAD. 



This road runs from St. Louis to Macon. The length is 168 miles. 
It was finished in 1859 and cost $7,638,195. It will be extended 
during the present year to the Iowa State line. The distance from 
Macon is 65 miles. The North Missouri will ultimately connect by 
means of the northern lines with all the largo towns upon the 
upper Mississippi, and by its junction with the Cedar Eapids and 
Iowa Central railroads enjoy the advantage of a double connection 
with St. Paul. A branch of this road from Moberly to Leaven- 
worth is now under construction. It is 147 miles long. It is to be 
completed next year. It will run through Brunswick, Eichmond, 
Kansas City and Leavenworth; and connect, by the extension of 
the Missouri Valley railroad with Council Bluffs and Sioux City. 

Another branch running from Centralia to Columbia — a distance 
of 22 miles — will be finished by the middle of next July. This road 
lies wholly within the limits of Boone Count3\ 

The Korth Missouri is now dependent for its Western con- 
nections upon the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad. But after the 
completion of the West Branch from Moberly, it will have a contin- 
uous independent line to Leavenworth. With its extensions, it will 
be the longest railroad in Missouri. There are no richer lands in 
the State than those which this road traverses. 

The railroad bridge at St. Charles is now in process of erection. 
Its length will be 1500 feet, and its ultimate cost ^500,000. It will 
be finished in 1868. 

The gauge of the North Missouri is now 5 feet 6 inches. 
During the present summer the gauge will be changed to 4 feet 
8| inches. This is the width of the Hannibal and St. Joseph track, 
of the Union Pacific, and of all the railroads in Iowa. After this 
alteration is made, the North Missouri can make all its northern 
and western connections without change. The same train can run 
from St. Louis to Leavenworth. The 18 new engines which the 
Company are now putting on the road increase the number of their 
locomotives to 42. 

On the main line to Macon, the amount of private and municipal 
subscription was $2,137,400, and the loan of State credit $4,350,000. 

By subsequent legislation, the State released its lien upon the 
road f^or the $4,350,000, and permitted the Company to issue first 
mortgage bonds for $6,000,000. The holders of these bonds now 
possess the first lien on the completed road, and are still further 
secured by a first mortgage on the extension to the Iowa State line, 
on the new West Branch, and on the St. Charles bridge. 

By the terms of the law, the $6,000,000 are appropriated to 
specific objects : 

For tbe erection of the St. Charles Bridge $500,000 

" " extension to the Iowa State line 1,500,000 

" " construction of the West Branch 4,500,000 

When all the extensions now under contract are completed, 

the North Missouri will have the follov/ing length of line : 



45 

From St. Louis to Macon 168 milos 

" Mohei'ly to Leavenworth 141 " 

" Macon to Iowa line . , 65 " 

" Kansas City to Leavenworth 22 " 

" Centralia to Columbia . 22 " 

Total length of the main line and branches 418 " 

The estimated cost of these extensions will be : 

From Moberly to Leavenworth ^4,000,000 

" Macon to loAva State line 1,266,000 

" Centralia to Columbia. 500,000 

St» Charles Eridge 500,000 

Total cost $6,266,000 

To meet these expenses, the North Missouri has the following 
resources : 

First mortgage 7 per cent, bonds $6,000,000 

County and private subscriptions 1,841,000 

25,000 acres of land in Chariton county 250,000 

Other property 231,00.0 

Total resources $8,322,000 

Whole cost and assets of the road $15,960,195 

The inequalities of a railroad impair its eflficienc3^ They 

squander motive power. They augment the cost of transportation. 

The carrying capacity of the Nortii Missouri is greatly enlarged by 

the lightness of its grades. The advantage of its comparatively 

level track is distinctly visible in the ecdnomy of freightage and of 

effective power. 

From its extent and location, the North Missouri will not only 

facilitate trade and travel, but actively promote a denser settlement 

of the fertile lands through which it runs. 

PACIFIC RAILROAD.* 

The Pacific railroad will be prominent among the public works 
of all time. It will be the longest railway in the world. The 
main line will be 2300 miles long, and its branches 1000 miles more. 
A continuous track, 3400 miles in length, will unite New York 
and San Francisco. The cost of the rails alone will be more 
than $30,000,000, and the expense of the completed road will be 
about $150,000,000. A force of 20,000 pioneers is leveling this high- 
way for a royal progress of the Great Eepublic. The road is now 
advancing at the rate of 300 miles a yeai\ Upon the Pacific slope, 
the work is prosecuted with great vigor. From Sacramento, the 
line already extends eastward 114 miles. It is now crossing the 
heights of the Sierra Nevada. The passage of this range encounters 
great obstacles and exhibits grand triumphs of civil engineering. 

* This and the "Union Pacific Railroad" are titles which do not strictly fall within 
the scope of an article on the '-Rdilroads of Missouri." But the Pacific Railroad is so 
intimately connected with the prosperity and development of Missouri, that the temp- 
tation to discuss it was too great for successful resistance. 



46 

The road spans profound chasms, creeps along the dizzy verge of 
precipices, and pierces the solid buttresses of the mountains. The 
sublimities of this region are scarcely inferior to the grandeurs of 
the Tosemite Valley. 

Some of the mountains along whose base this road runs arc 
said to be 12,000 feet in height. A recent article in the New York 
World furnishes some very interesting statistics of the Central 
Pacific railway. This road was begun in 1863. The initial point 
is Sacramento. This city stands at the head of navigation on the 
Sacramento river. The ease of communication aftbrded by a navi- 
gable stream obviated the necessity of beginning at San Francisco. 
But, under a charter authorising the construction of a railway 'be- 
tween these two cities, 97 miles of road have been already built. 
The central Pacific is now finished to the crest of the Sierra i^I'evada. 
The Com^^any intend to complete the road from 

Sacramento to Yirginia City 156 miles in 1867 

" " Austin 320 " "1868 

" " Salt Lake City 585 " "1870 

The estimated cost and equipment of the road from Sacramento 
to the state line of California ai-e estimated at §1-4,000,000. For 
15 miles, the pathway up the ascent of the Sierra Nevada has been 
cut in solid granite. During the progress of the work, the daily 
consumption of powder was 350 kegs, worth §1400. During the 
full 1866, the working force was 8,000 Chinese. The number of 
horses and mules employed upon the road was 1200. This spring 
the Company intend to increase their industrial force to 12,000 or 
15,000 men. 

In 1866, the earnings of the Central Pacific were : 

From Sacramento to Colfax, 62 miles. May, $65,000 

" " " " June, 67,000 

« " Alta, 69 " July, 85,000 

" " " " August, 112,000 

" " " " September, 114,000 

" " " " October, 127,000 

From Sacramento to Cisco, the tarif of rates is $9,50 for pas- 
sengers, and §14.00 a ton for freight. But even at these high prices, 
there is a saving of 20 per cent, on the former cost of carriage. 
The Express Company of Wells and Fargo charge on freight 
From San Francisco to Austin, 320 miles, 50 cents in gold per pound. 
« " Salt Lake, 710 " 75 " " " 

In Nevada, green fire wood is §13 a cord in gold, and the 
timber necessary for mining purposes costs from §30 to §45 per 
hundred. The quantity of lumber requisite for this use may be 
iiiiei-red from the alleged fact that the mine of Gould and Curry 
contains as much timber as Virginia city, a wood-built town of 
15,000 inhabitants. Yet, notwithstanding the great expense of 
material and transportation, some of the mines of Nevada pay a 
monthly dividend of 2 to 5 per cent. The Gould and Curry Mining 
Company think that they could have saved in 1864, by the relative 
economy of railroad carriage, §2,000,000 in gold. The annual cost 



47 

of traneportation to Nevada is $10,000,000. In 18G6, the freight 
on $6,000,000 from the East to Montana waB $2,000,000. 

Those facts disclose the grave difficulties which retard the 
growth of onr Territories, and prompt the utmost vigor in the 
prosecution of the Pacific railroad. 

Official assurance is given that the entire line will be finished 
m 187T. The terms of the charter require its completion by the 
first of Jul.y 1876. 

The glory of this great achievement wall chiefly belong io 
St. Louis. The concei)tion of the enterprize originated in this city. 
The first capital was advanced by our own merchants. With rare 
foresight and an honorable faith in the ultimate success of their 
great undertaking, our public-spirited citizens persevered in despite 
of every discouragement and opposition, till at last popular favor and 
financial prosperity have crowned their efforts. 

The prophecy of Benton is rapidly approaching its fulfilment. 
Soon the Atlantic and Pacific will be bound together by railroad ties. 
This colossal w^ork will be a proud monument of American energy. 
Its consummation will inaugurate a new era in the history of 
commerce. In anticipation of its completion aJSTewYork company, 
with a capital of 630,000,000, has just established a regular monthly 
line of steamers between San Francisco and China. The Colorado 
made its first voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong in 27^ days. 
The mail from Japan now reaches the Pacific coast in three weeks. 
The journey from New York to Hong Kong, by way of London 
and Suez, takes 56 days ; but by the Pacific Eailway, the time wall 
be only 35 days. 

This inter-oceanic railroad will doubtless become the highway 
of travel between Europe and the Orient. Between the termini of 
the Pacific Eailroads, there is an interval of about 750 miles. 
Convej^ance by stage over this long and difficult line is relatively slow. 
Yet, notwithstanding this great impediment, Eugland has already 
sent its China mail across this Continent. The economy of distance 
and time, the personal comfort of a passage laying wholly in the 
temperate zone, and the avoidance of the heat and perils of tropic 
seas will secure to this route the main patronage of the ti'avel between 
the maritime frontiers of Eui'ope and Asia. Time, too, is often an 
important element in commercial transactions. The Pacific Eailroad 
will afford the quickest transit between the opposite borders of the 
Eastern hemisphere. The interchanges of merchandise of small 
bulk and great value will be carried on over this road. Commodities 
liable to be injured by the temperature of the tropics will seek the 
safety of this northern line of transportation. The temperate calm 
of Pacific waters in the latitude of San Francisco and Shanghai is 
an additional safeguard of life and cargo. 

The Pacific railroad will be a mighty agency in the development 
of that vast tract of country which lies between the Pocky Mount- 
ains and the Sierra Nevada. The discovery of gold and silver in 
the canons of these mountains gave the initial impulse to population 
— the Pacific railway will accelerate the movement. While the 
acquisition of wealth will still be the chief motive, the facility of 



48 

reaching the mountains by means of this road will strengthen the 
prime incentive. Populous States and well ordered governments 
now exist in regions which but few years ago Avere only trackless 
solitudes. The presence of gold in the Eocky Mountains has sud- 
denly adorned their slopes with a flourishing civilization. The lure 
of riches and the convenience of the railroad will people these 
fastnesses, and add new members to the sisterhood of States. 
Under the action of these twofold motives, new communities will 
arise. Happy homes, social order, and public wealth will soon be 
found in the recent wilderness. The development of the mountain 
region will swell our national resources with ingots of precious 
metal, and probably require, for the accommodation of local travel 
and commerce, the construction of other roads to the Pacific. 



MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

This road runs from St. Louis to Kansas City. It is 283 miles 
long. The initial steps having been taken in 1849, active work was 
begun Aug. 2, 1851, and the last rail was laid Sept. 19, 1865. 

The cost of construction was $11,418,794 

" " rollingstock 2,049,674 

Total cost of the road $13,468,468 

From the inception to the completion of this road, every step 
of progress was retarded by difficulties of the gravest character. 
Financial embarrassments, disastrous accidents, and rebel raids have 
severely tested the ability and resources of the Company. In the 
fall of 1864, the Missouri Pacific suffered terribly from the devast- 
ations of civil war. The rebels, besides inflicting other extensive 
injuries upon the road, destroyed 11 bridges whose total length was 
more than 3250 feet. The aggregate damage from this incursion 
was $500,000. Yet the magnitude of these losses and impediments 
has but increased the honor of ultimate success. The dauntless 
purpose and administrative skill which surmounted so great ob- 
stacles are worthy of public and grateful remembrance. 

The funds which enabled the Directors to complete the road 
were derived from the following sources : 

State Bonds $7,000,000 

County subscriptions 2,845,630 

Missouri Pacific Ptailroad Bonds 1,500,000 

Private subscriptions 764,000 

St. Louis County Bonds •.. 700,000 

Some of these loans were effected with the greatest difliculty. 
Aid was at times granted only when it became apparent that, 
in the event of refusal, the enterprise would have to be abandoned. 
The reluctance of the Legislature to pledge the public credit for the 
completion of the road did not ai'ise from unfriendliness, but from 
the fiscal embarrassments of the State. Only a resolution undis- 
mayed by disaster and an ability resourceful in difficulties could have 
carried the road successfully through these financial emergencies. 



During the rebellion, the main line and the Southwest Branch 
were of incalciilable importance to the country. The extent of this 
service may be inferred from the fact, that, in 1863, '64 and '65, 
the net receipts for Government transportation were §758,550. 
The terrible ravages of the rebel armies would have been much 
worse, had it not been for the facilities of rapid movement and sud- 
den concentration which these roads afforded to the national forces. 

The present equipment of the Missouri Pacific is : 

Mail cars 7 

Baggage and Express cars 17 

Caboose cars 29 

Passenger cars 41 

Locomotives 47 

Freight cars 641 

The total quantity of iron rails used in the construction and 
repair of this road is 27,600 tons. The service of the line requires 
a constant force of 1500 men. 

The Company is purposing, at an early day, to change the 
width of the track to 4 feet 8| inches. The road will then have the 
same gauge as that of the Union Pacific. "When the contemplated 
change has been made, this road will form an iinbroken and uniform 
part of that magnificent line which will soon stretch to the Pacific 
shore. The road is now doing an immense and steadily increasing 
business. The success and general utility of the Missouri Pacific 
long since justified the action of the Legislature in granting the loan 
of the public credit. The issue of State bonds, ensuring the capital 
necessary to the completion of the road, was an act of legislative 
wisdom. The influence of this railway i;pon the prosperity of Mis- 
souri has been signally beneficial. We hope that public honor and 
private wealth will reward the energetic and farsighted men who, 
>inder such grave discouragements, carried forward this road to a 
successful consummation. 



UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, EASTERN DIVISION. 

The State of Missouri has a deep and permanent interest in the 
Union Pacific railway. This line was contemplated in the Pacific 
Eailroad Act of 1862. In the original bill, it constituted the 
St. Louis connection of the Union Pacific railroad, whose initial 
point was the 100th meridian of longitude. By later legislation 
in 1864 and 1866, the junction of the "Northern or Omaha" road 
and the "Kansas or Smoky Hill" road was changed to a point 
"fifty miles west of the meridian of Denver" in Colorado. 

The Union Pacific railway, Avith its connections, is the shortest 
line between the mountains and the Mississippi river. It lies 
200 miles south of the Omaha Branch, and will be comparatively 
free from the snows which will obstruct the Northern line. In its 
entire length, it crosses no navigable stream. It must inevitably 
become the trunk line across the continent. This road is a contin- 
uation of the great central chain of railways running west from the 

4 



50 

Atljintic metropolis. Fi'om New York to San Francisco, tlie main 
road de\dato8 but little from the base line of the fortieth parallel. 

The work upon the Union Pacific railway, Eastern Division, 
was begun in 1863, but owing to the war and various legal difficult- 
ies was not vigorously prosecuted until July 1865, when the present 
organization assumed control. The following data in regard to the 
road have been furnished by one of the officers of the Company, 
The line of the Union Pacific railway, as located under the pres- 
ent law, starts from the Missouri river at the western terminus of 
the Pacific railroad of Missouri and runs almost due west up the 
rich valleys of the Kansas and Smoky Hill rivers, and from the 
head-waters of the latter across the plains to Denver, and thence 
along the base of the mountains to the point of junction with the 
Northern Branch. The length of this Division is about 700 miles. 

Of this distance, 225 miles have been completed, fully equipped, 
and accepted by the United States Government. A continuous 
railway now extends 508 miles west from St. Louis. A branch road, 
31 miles long, has also been built from Lawrence to Leavenworth. 

The Union Pacific Company contemplate the construction of a 
railroad to Santa Fe. They purpose to begin the preliminary survey 
at an early date. The initial point is Filley, a town 200 miles east 
of Denver. The distance to Santa Fe is about 400 miles. This road 
would give an outlet to the productions of New Mexico, open the 
territory to the invasion of enterprise, bring its resources within 
the reach of commerce, and attract a rich trade to St. Louis. It is 
the design of the Company ultimately to extend this road through 
Arizona and Southern California to the Pacific. The same grave 
considerations of public economy, self-defence, and material develop- 
ment which led the Government to lend its credit to the central road 
should induce it to grant subsidies to this Southern line. 

Conti'acts have been made to complete the main road to the 
385 mile-post Avest of the Missouri river by December 31, 1867. 
225 miles of track, extending from Kansas City to Fort Uarker, 
are now laid. Beyond the present terminus, 90 miles of graded 
road are ready for the rails. 

The cross-ties of the Pacific Eailroad, Eastern Division, are made 
of hard wood. The rails weigh 56 pounds per lineal yard, and are 
all of American manufacture. 22,000 tons of bars have been already 
used in the construction of this road, and 14,000 more are now on 
their way. 

By the first of June, this road will have the following 
equipment : 

Baggage and Express cars 5 

Passenger cars 14 

Locomotive engines 25 

Freight cars 418 

The earnings of the road for the quarter ending December 31, 
1866, exceeded ^200,000. It is believed that the receipts during 1867 
will average $100,000 per month. 



51 

Tho subsidies with which the Government aids the construction 
of this portion of the Pacific railroad are : 

1st. A loan of $1G,000 for each mile of railroad and telegraph 
line, to be delivered to the company as each section of 20 miles is 
completed and accepted by the government. It consists of 30 years, 
XT. S. 6 per cent, bonds, secured by a second lien. The interest 
and principal are guaranteed by the United States. The law per- 
mits the company to issue bonds of an equal amount per mile, 
secured by a first mortgage having priority over the government lien. 

2nd. A grant of 12,800 acres of land per mile of finished road. 
It gives alternate sections extending 20 miles on each side of 
the road. 

The Bonds issued to this division of the Pacific railroad 
mature in 30 years. The interest on these Bonds is paid by the 
U. S. Government. To secure the repayment of this interest, the 
Govei'nment deducts and retains one half of the cost of its own 
transportations over the road. The amount of mails, troops, 
munitions of war, and Indian supplies, carried over this line, is 
very large. Before the close of the coming summer, 27,000,000 
pounds of Government freight will be shipped by this route to the 
territories. The total amount of interest which the Government 
has paid on the bonds of this road, up to March 1, 1867, is $97,000. 
The cost of Government transportation, from Oct. 15, 1866, to March 
1, 1867, is ^55,000. Of this sum, the Government has reserved 
S27,000. This amount is more than 30 per cent, of all the interest 
Avhich the Government has paid on the Bonds of the road. After 
the present year, the transportation of Government supplies will 
probably refund to the national treasury all the money advanced 
for the payment of the interest on these Bonds. An examination 
of the business of the road discloses the unexpected and gratifying 
fact, that this great national work will be accomplished without 
cost or embaiTassment to the Government. In the event of an 
Indian war, or of an invasion of the Pacific coast, this railroad 
would be invaluable to the financial interests and military success 
of the nation. It would lessen the expenses, and facilitate the 
prosecution, of a frontier war. It would give strong material 
guarantees for the perpetuity of the Union. The completion of this 
national highway will strengthen the alliance of the States with iron 
bands, and develop our Western wilderness into populous common- 
wealths. 

In addition to the grant of public lands, the company has 
bought from the Delaware and PottaAvatamie tribes of Indians about 
600,000 acres in the heavily timbered regions of Eastern Kansas. 
This purchase comprises some of the finest farming lands in the 
State. Nearly 1,000,000 acres of valuable lands, all lying oast of 
Fort Eiley, are now offered by this company for sale to actual 
settlers. The progress of the Pacific railroad and the natural 
attractions of Kansas have exerted so marked an influence upon 
immigration, that the actual increase in the population of that State, 
during the year 1866, was, accoi'ding to the estimate of Gov. 
Crawford, 50,000 people. 



52 

These princely subsidies from the Government and the financial 
strength and executive energy of this corporation justify- the 
expectation that the work willbe completed in the time prescribed 
by law. 

ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

This road was formerly called the Southwest Branch, but its 
OAvnership and title have recently been changed. It runs from 
Franklin— a town on the Missouri Pacific, 37 miles west of 
St. Louis — to the Gasconade river. The length of the independent 
line is 88 miles. 

The extension of the Atlantic and Pacific is making rapid 
progress. A bridge nearly 800 feet long will soon span the Gas- 
conade. A force of 1500 men is now at work upon the continuation 
of the road. The distance from the Gasconade river to the Arkansas 
line is about 200 miles. The cost of extending the road to the 
borders of the State is estimated at $6,000,000. The amount which 
the development of the mineral resources of Southwestern Missouri 
would add to our common Avealth cannot be calculated, but the rise 
in the value of real estate Avhich the completion of this road would 
cause has _ been appraised at $25,000,000. The extension of this 
line from its present terminus merely to the southwest corner of 
Missouri would be an incalculable benefit. The trade of the North 
western roads may be partially diverted from St. Louis by the 
construction of rival lines. But the Atlantic and Pacific, by its 
advantages of situation, will compel all connecting lines to be 
subsidiary to itself; and its commerce, constantly swelled by the 
traffic of txibutary roads, must necessarily flow to St. Louis. The 
extension of this road Avould open to settlement vast tracts of valu- 
able land, and by the impulse of cheap transportation lead to an 
extended development of the rich mines of SouthAvestern Missouri. 

ST. LOUIS AND IRON MOUNTAIN RAILROAD. 

^^"The St. Louis and Iron Mountain" and ^^The Cairo and Ful- 
ton" railroads have recently been sold by order of the Governor of 
Missouri for the redemption of funds which the State advanced them. 

The amount of State loan to the former road is S3,501,000 

" " " latter " 050,000 

" interest for six years, to Jan. 1st 1807 .... 1,494,360 

Total indebtedness to the State ^5,645,360 

The State bought these roads Sept. 27, 1866, and in November 
following sold them through Commissioners to Messrs. McKay, 
Reed and Co. of Pittsburg for $900,000, payable in Missouri Bonds. 
The deeds Avcre made l)y the State Jan. 9, 1S67; and, on the 12th 
of the same month, the purchasers sold the roads to Hon. Thomas 
Allen of St. Louis, for §1,275,000. 

The Iron Mountain railroad, running from St. Louis to Pilot 
Knob, is 87 miles long; and cost, exclusive of discount, interest and 
commissions, $4,356,800. The quantitv of rails used in the con- 



53 

structlon ot tiiis road is about 10,000 tons. Its freight is mostly 
iron ore, pig metal, lead, barytes, lumber, and wood. In 1865, its 
earnings were ^424,700; and, in 1866, they were probably still 
larger. 

The Cairo and Fulton railroad begins at Bird's Point on the 
Mississippi, and will eventually terminate on Red Eiver in the 
Southwest corner of Arkansas. But 26 miles of the road are now 
finished.- It cost, exclusive of incidental expenses, S080,300. It 
has a land grant of about 500,000 acres. The country through 
which it runs produces a rich growth of timber, corn, and cotton. 
It is estimated that, in 1866, 60,000 bales of cotton — including prob- 
ably some shipments from contiguous counties in Arkansas — were 
brought from Southeast Missouri. 

The present proprietor of these two roads will consolidate them 
under the style of " The St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern 
Eailway", and make an unbroken line from St. Louis to Belmont, 
opposite the terminus of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The con- 
ditions of the purchase exact the completion of this road within five 
years; but Mr. Allen feels confident of his ability to finish it in less 
than half of that time. The cost of the road will be about $4,500,000. 

An ultimate extension of this line to Helena is contemplated. 
In fact, the initial steps have already been taken. The Legislature 
of Arkansas has recently revised the original charter of the road, 
and granted ampler privileges. The liberality of these franchises 
has led to the organization of a company, and the subscription of 
§1,000,000 in capital and materid. The estimated expense of this 
I'oad is 85;000,000. The distance from Ironton to Helena is 230 
miles. The country through which the projected line passes is pro- 
ductive, well-watered^ and generally level. Even where inequalities 
exist, the grades are relatively light. 

The completion of this road to Helena is highly important to 
St. Louis. It would greatly enhance our municipal prospei'ity. 
Vast commercial interests depend upon the success of this under- 
taking. Between St. Louis and Helena, navigation in the summer 
season is. sometimes embarrassed by low water and sandbars; and, 
in the winter-time, it is frequently obstructed by floating ice. Though 
the intervals of interruption are temporary, yet the briefest sus- 
pension of our Southern communications inflicts a serious injury 
upon the mercantile interests of St. Louis. 

The continuation of the Iron Mountain road to Helena would 
open an avenue to a point belov^^ which navigation is never impeded 
by ice or low water. An outlet to the great markets of the South, 
direct, available, and always free from obstructions, would soon 
develop our winter trade into summer proportioui?. 



54 
EDUCATION, 



No treatment of the material interostg of a State can be com- 
plete, without some discussion of the spiritual forces which vitalize 
them. Public wealth is often a cause of national decay. Genuine 
prosperity implies the guidance of intelligence and morality. No 
c©mmunity can greatly flourish where ignorance and dishonesty 
prevail. The political economy which ignores the intellectual and 
moral foi'ces of society discards the prime essentials of public welfare. 
The commonwealth is only supremely great when it is actuated by 
enlightened motives and imbued with the spirit of a Christian civili- 
zation. 

Ditring the war, domestic turbulence greatly impaired the 
efficiency of our common schools. In some of the rural districts, 
the shock of arms or the distempered condition of the public mind 
led to a temporary suspension of the schools. But now, since the 
civil strife which disorganized our educational system has ceased, 
our schools are resuming their activity. Under the old regime, 
indifference to public culture was a prominent trait. 'A social system 
which rested on unjust distinctions of caste and fostered civil in- 
equality would naturally look with disfavor upon the cause of popular 
education. An aristocracy based upon wrong has an instinctive 
dread of intelligence. There is a deathless hostility between them. 
Ignorance is the helj)less victim of oppression, but popular enlighten- 
ment is the divine victor of injustice. Now, since the feudal 
impediment to our progress has been removed, we shall advance 
with a freer movement. A fresh energy invigorates our public 
polity. A spirit of freedom and progress imparts a new life to 
our educational system. The people of Missoviri are actively re- 
organizing their ptiblic schools. They are striving with a zealous 
co-operation of individual and legislative efforts, to extend and 
improve their institutions of learning. 

The public schools of St. Louis were organized in 1833, and 
went into practical operation in 1839. They are now an honor to 
Western culture. Improved by the best results of exj)erience, 
taught by an accomplished corps of instructors, and aided with the 
resources of valuable Public Libraries, they afford to the youth of 
this metropolis the means of a thorough popular education. The 
grades of our public schools are based upon a system of rigid class- 
ification. They culminate in the High School. Students enter this 
institution only through the ordeal of a competitive examination. 
Admittance, therefore, implies exemplary deportment and success- 
ful scholarship. The discipline of the High School embraces the 
higher branches of an English education and the Academic course 
of Classic culture. The scholarly training of this institution qualifies 
its graduates for the duties of life or the' pursuit of polite learning. 

The Normal School in this city affords excellent opportunities 
for pi'ofessional discipline. It teaches the philosophy of education 
as well as the best processes of practical instruction. The profes- 



55 

sional success of its graduates shows the effect of trained skill and 
systematic teaching. 

In addition to its public schools, St. Louis has endowed 
Universities whose excellence obviates the necessity of sending 
Western youth to Eastern institutions for a liberal education. In 
one of these Universities, the mathematical coiirse is as full and 
exhaustive as at West Point, and the standard of scholarship, in 
the chief departments of study, is scarcely inferior to that of 
Harvard or Yale. 

St. Louis also possesses excellent seminaries for the education 
of young women. The Mary Institute is virtually a Collego. 
To students pursuing the extended course, it offers the main 
advantages of a liberal culture. It opens to young women fields of 
study and sources of refined enjoyment from Avhich they have been 
too long excluded. Such institutions exert a beneficent influence 
upon society. They add to wealth the graces of polite culture, 
invest poverty with honorable means of self-support, and enrich 
over}' fireside with ampler resources of happiness. 

The Polytechnic Institute of St. Louis is a noble monument of 
private munificence and public usefulness. The building is one of 
the most expensive and superb structures in the United States. 
The cost of erection, together with the value of the grounds, was 
more than $400,000. The edifice is worthy of its use. It will be 
devoted to the service of practical science. Here the philosophy 
of the industrial arts will be taught. In these halls, artisans will 
receive gratuitous instruction in those scientific principles which 
underlie every mechanical pursuit. The processes which mere 
experience can but imperfectly discover at the close of a business 
life may here be accurately learned at the beginning. The apprentice 
and artificer can here acquire briefer solutions of mechanical prob- 
lems, cheaper methods of manufacture, and the latest appliances 
of ehemical science to the industrial arts. Poverty will debar no 
student from the halls of this institution. The instruction is free. 
A mastery of the practical principles taught in the Polytechnic 
Institute is a strong guarantee of business success. 

There is no reason why St. Louis, with its admirable system 
of public schools and higher institutions of learning, should not 
become the center of Western culture. The metropolis of the West 
should diffuse throughout this valley those principles of mental and 
moral enlightenment on which our republican civilization rests. 

The State University of Missouri, located at Columbia, was 
seriously injured by the ravages of civil war. Insurgent violence 
caused a suspension of the literary exercises and a partial destruction 
of the buildings. But the appropriation granted by the last Legis- 
lature will repair the injui-ies of the rebellion and restore the 
University to its former usefulness. The central location of this 
institution adapts it to the convenience of the interior. Eeorganized 
on a broader basis and imbued Avith a progi'essive spirit, our State 
University will be capable of efficient service in the cause of educa- 
tion and freedom. 



56 

Active efforts are now making, with every probability of 
xiltimate success, for the establishment of an Agricultural College 
in Missouri. The new institution will be an important addition to 
the educational facilities of the State. By teaching the economic 
processes of scientific husbandry, by determining the analysis and 
capacities of different soils, by explaining the philosophy of fertili- 
zation and the remedy for defects of essential elements, by exploring 
the cause and cure of vegetable diseases, by discovering the nature 
of injurious insects and the means of destroying them, by testing 
the adaptation of valuable foreign plants to our own lands, and by 
elevating the chief industry and reliance of the nation to the dignity 
of a science, an Agricultural College would actively promote the 
material and mental development of the State. 

The public school law of Missouri is liberal and equitable. It 
imposes upon the people of the State the duty of maintaining free 
schools. It provides for the education of all classes, without 
distinction of color. This law fully accords with the spirit of the 
age. Its provisions embody the soundest philosoi^hy and the finest 
humanity of civil ethics. 

Missouri encourages immigrants by a just and generous care 
for the education of their children. Immigrants will find here not 
only rare opportunities for material success, but excellent facilities 
for the cultivation of those spiritual forces Avhich detennine the 
destinies of men and the gi*eatness of nations. 



SPECIAL INDUCEMENTS AND FACILITIES FOR 
IMMIGRATION TO MISSOURI. 



The provisions of the new Constitution of Missouri are highly 
favorable to immigrants. Bj^ the liberal terms of this Charter 
"Every Avhite male citizen of the United States, and every white 
male person of foreign birth who may have declared his intention 
to become a citizen of the ITnited States, according to law, not less 
than one year nor more than five years before he offers to vote, who 
is over the age of twentyone years, who is not disqualified by or 
under any of the provisions of this Constitution, and who shall 
have complied with its requirements, and have resided in the State 
one year next preceding an}^ election, or next preceding his regis- 
tration as a voter, and during the last sixty days of that period 
shall have resided in the countj^, city or town where he offers to 
vote, or seeks registration as a voter, shall be .entitled to a vote at 
such elections for all officers. State, county or municipal, made 
elective by the people." 

Thei*e are hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable land in 
this State subject to entry under the homestead law. The conditions 



57 

of this law are pjeneroue : "Any person who is the head of a family, 
or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years^ and is a citizen 
of the United States, or who shall have tiled his intentions to become 
such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, 
and who has never borne arms against the United States Govern- 
ment, or given aid and comfort to its enemies shall, from and after 
the 1st of January, 1863, be entitled to enter one quarter section or 
less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said person 
may have tiled a pre-emption claim, or which may at the time 
the application is made be subject to pre-emption, at $1.25 or less 
per acre; or 80 acres or less of such unappropriated lands at $2.50 
per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal sub- 
divisions of the public lands, and after the same shall have been 
surveyed : Provided, That any person owning and residing on land 
may, under provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous 
to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already 
owned or occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty 
acres." 

The cost of entry at the land office is $14. After a residence 
of five 3'ears upon the land and the additional payment of $4, the 
title is complete, and a patent, vesting in the occupant the fee simple 
of the property, is issued. The humblest manual laborer can, by 
the earnings of a single month, purchase a farm of a hundred and 
sixty acres. By the liberality of our beneficent Government, the 
poor man can buy a homestead at less than twelve cents an acre. 

Any public lands in Missouri, contemplated by the terms of the 
act, can be entered under the homestead law. The Government 
accepts in payment for public lands cash, land warrants and agri- 
cultural scrip. By act of Congress passed July 2, 1862, "this 
scrip, when duly assigned and attested by two witnesses, under such 
authority of the said State as the act of the Legislature thereof 
may designate, m&y be surrendered at any land office in satisfaction 
of a location of "one quarter of a section," or for any quantity in 
one legal subdivision less than one quai'ter section, where such 
location is taken in full for one quarter section — the location to be 
restricted to vacant public lands subject to entry at private sale at 
$1.25 per acre, rjiineral lands excluded, and whilst the aggregate 
location of all the claims under the said act may be taken in any of 
the territories without limitation as to the quantity located in any 
one of them, yet, in virtue of express limitation in the statute, not 
more than 1,000,000 acres of the total aggregate scrip-issue under 
said act can be located within the limits of anj' of the States." 
Agricultural scrip is now very cheap. It can be bought at sixty 
cents an acre ; in other words, 160 acres of land, which the Govern- 
ment values at $200, can be purchased by means of this scrip for $96. 
But one difficulty attends the location of land with College scrip. 
Under a 160 acre land warrant, the sole requision is that the forty 
acre subdivisions shall lie in contiguous tracts. But a location with 
scrip demands that the land shall constitute a "quarter section" in 
the technical sense of the law. Divide a "section" into four equi- 
lateral parts — 160 acres, if entered with scrip, must comprise one of 



58 

these squares. No other form will satisfy the requirements of 
the law. 

There are now three land districts in Missouri. A new division 
has recently been made. 

The Ironton district lies east of range 11 west, and south of 
township 38. The recording office is at Ironton. 

The Springfield district comprises that portion of the State 
which is situated west of range 10 west, and south of township 35. 
The registry is at Spiingfield. 

The Boonville district embraces all the rest of the State. The 
office of entry is located at Boonville. 

Letters of inquiry should be addressed to the ^'Eegister of 
Public Lands" in that district where the immigrant proposes to 
settle. Gratuitous information relative to the character and adapta- 
tions of lands in their several departments is promptly furnished by 
the land officers. 

The Graduation Act was repealed in 1862. 

The public lands are now in large demand. Thousands of im- 
migrants are now coming to Missouri. 

But the danger of exhausting oiTr supply of lands is not im- 
minent. Official returns, just received from the registries, show that 
there are now in the 

Boonville District — 790,000 acres of unentered public lands. 
L-onton " 1,000,000 " " 

Springfield ' " 2,000,000 " " 

As in each of these cases the lowest estimate of the registers 
has been given, it is probable that there are now in this State more 
than 4,000,000 acres of land still subject to entry. 

The effect of freedom upon the material interests of Missouri 
is most palpable. When it is remembered that the ordinance of 
emancipation was passed January 11, 1865, the following figures, 
recently derived from official sources, are eminently instructive : 

The entries in the Ironton District were in 1863 655 acres. 

" " " 1864 7,895 " 

" " " 1865 21,709 " 

" " " 1866 60,131 " 

From 1860 to 1866 inclusive, 17,375 acres were entered under 
the Pre-emption Act ; and, in the years 1864, '65, and '66, 71,542 
acres were registered under the Homestead Law. 

The statistics of the Boonville office are a still more signal 
illustratioQ of the influence of universal liberty. 

For the year and three quarters preceding the passage of the 
Ordinance of Emancipation, the entries at the Boonville office were 
38,496 acres — for the same period subsequent to the passage of that 
act, the entries were 607,145 acres. Of this vast quantity, 402,392 
acres were entered during the last year, prior to the first of 
October. 

During the rebellion, the distui'bed condition of the State 
greatly diminished the number of entries. Yet, after making every 



59 

JTist allowance for the decrease due to civil disorder, our comparison 
still signally vindicates the superior pvospei'ity of freedom. 

■ But even these facts do not fully indicate the extent of our im- 
migration. Thousands of immigrants have bought improved farms, 
but of course the land office keeps no record of such transfers of prop- 
erty. The effect of this large accession to our population has been 
to raise the price of improved lands. Though our cultivated farms 
can still be purchased at very low rates, yet Eastern men must no 
longer indulge the hope of buying our best lands at the prices which 
prevailed befoi'e the disenthralment of the State. Nor must they 
expect to find amid the rude conditions of frontier life the social ad- 
vantages of older communities. A recollection of this obvious fact 
will prevent disappointment. The immigrant will find here an in- 
exhaustible richness of soil and mine. A wild, exuberant, fruitful 
nature lies before him. But his own energy must develope its re- 
sources, and his own art fashion abundant materials into a beautiful 
home. Nature furnishes the facilities, but man must use them. 

The intelligent forecast of our railroad and steamboat com- 
panies leads them to encourage immigration by special favors. 
They often give to destitute immigrants free or reduced trans- 
portation. Their policy is sagacious. The generosity which 
immediately relieves the beneficiary will eventually enrich the 
benefactor. 

''The Board of Immigration of the State of Missouri" was 
organized under an act of the Legislature, approved Feb. 16, 1865. 
The following sections, copied from the amended act, express the 
constitution, objects and resources of the Board. 

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri 
as follows: 

"Section 1. There shall be a Board of Immigration, which 
shall be composed of five members, three of which are to be 
appointed by the Grovernor. 

"Sec. 2. The Governor and Secretary of State shall be ex-oflficio 
members of this board ; and it shall be its duty to do all and every- 
thing which may and will advance and encourage immigration to 
this State, either from the eastern States of the United States or 
from the eastern hemisphere. 

"Sec. 3. The members of this board shall, if they deem it 
advisable and proper for the encouragement of immigration, publish 
or cause to be published pamphlets, essays and articles treating on 
and describing, in a true light, the developed and undeveloped 
agricultural and mineral resources of the State of Missouri, our 
facilities for navigation, railroad connections, and our wide-spread 
commerce, and to distribute them in such localities wherever, in 
their opinion, they may be useful, beneficial and of good for the 
pi'omotion of immigration to our State. 

"Sec. 4. They also shall have power, whenever deemed exped- 
ient by them, to appoint an agent or agents, either for the eastern 
States of the United States or for Europe, for the purpose of aiding 
and advising immigration ; and such agent or agents shall act solely 



60 

under the instruction of the Board of Immigration, who shall also 
fix and allow their compensation for their services, to be paid out 
of the fund created as hereinafter provided. 

"Sec. 8. The sum of two thousand dollars, annually, is hereby 
appropriated out of any money in the Treasury of the State not 
otherwise appropriated, for the use of the Board of Immigration, 
to be expended by them as they think best and expedient for the 
interest of immigration to the State of Missouri, which shall be in 
full of all other appropriations. 

"Sec. 9. The Board of Immigration is furthermore authorized 
and shall have powder to open books and invite and solicit contribu- 
tions and endowments of money from corporations, manufacturers, 
merchants and all persons who are immediately and directly bene- 
fited by the flow of immigration ; which money so contributed shall 
also be under the control of and expended by the Board for the 
intents and purposes in the preceding section stated. 

"Sec. 12. It shall be the duty of said Board to co-operate with 
the Bureau of Immigration at Washington City, and to make regu- 
lar reports of their labors and proceedings to the General Assembl}^ 
of the State, accompanied by such references, suggestions and 
statistics as may furnish good and reliable data and a proper basis 
for future legislation on the subject of immigration." 

The total receipts of the Board during 1865 and '66 were about 
810,500. A rigid economy has presided over all disbursements. 
But the unsufficiency of the present appropriation greatly restricts 
the usefulness of the Board. A legislative liberality, proportioned 
to the importance of the work, would enable the officers to enlarge 
the operations and secure the beneficial objects of the organization. 
The results already attained, in despite of limited means, evince the 
wisdom of the Legislature in creating the Board, and justify san- 
guine expectations of future utility. 

It is believed that 2000 families have been induced to settle in 
Missouri through the agency of this association. Thousands of 
letters of inquiry have been answered, and a large amount of valu- 
able information upon the resources of the State has been circulated. 
The first report of the Secretary is full of useful facts. The officers 
of the Missouri State Board of Immigration are : 
Gov. Tiios. C. Fletcher, President, Jefferson City, Mo. 
F. EoDM AN, Secy, of State, YicePres., " " " 

Hon. Isidor Bush, Secretary, 322 Chestnut St., St. Louis. 
Hon. a. Valle, Treasurer, " " " " 

Hon. F. Muench, German Correspondent, Augusta, Mo. 
Rev. Martin W. Willis, Gen. Agent, 309 Locust st., St. Louis. 
Office of State Board op Immigration " " " " 

The Secretaiy and Agent will cheerfully respond to all inquiries 
concerning Missouri. By the diifusion of free information and by 
the encouragement of personal assistance, the Board is actively 
fulfilling the object of its organization. 

The name of the " German Emigi*ant Aid Society" imports the 
nature of its services. The capital of this organization is now 



61 

aViout S-^,000, and the prospect of an early enlargement is hopeful. 
The efficiency of the society is greater by far than its means. Its 
benevolent activity is restricted to the relief of indigent Germans. 
The following statement exhibits some of the labors of this society 
during the past year. 

Number of families forwarded to their destination 7 

" " patients treated at the hospital 15 

" " persons provided with board 70 

" " " aided with money 78 

" " " supplied with work 146 

" " days' board furnished 181 

Amount of pecuniary assistance $365 

" recovered for lost baggage $524 

'^ dispatched to immigrants §1^289 

But perhaps the larger part of the labor of this society escapes 
the form of tabular expression. It has directed immigrants to those 
portions of the State best adapted to the exercise of their several 
vocations, recommended the cheapest lines of travel, negotiated 
loans, recovered delayed baggage, procured legal advice and com- 
pelled the fulfilment of contracts for transportation. Its services 
in cases of sickness, destitution and helplessness have been unre- 
mitting and effective. 

''The Mullanphy Emigrant Eelief Fund" is under the manage- 
ment of a Board of Commissioners composed of the Mayor of 
St. Louis and a member — elected by the Common Council — from 
each of the ten wards of the city. The amount of this fund is over 
8500,000. The property is mostly unproductive real estate. At 
first, the title of the lands was contested, and the Board was seriously 
embarrassed by suits at law. After the adjustment of the rights 
of possession, the improvements, so long deferred by litigation, were 
begun. In 1864 and '65, the Board spent 840,000 in the erection of 
buildings. During the present year, the rent of fifteen new houses 
Avill still further enlarge the revenue of the fund. The net income 
from the estate is now $10,000 a year. It is the present policy of 
the Board to expend almost all of this sum in the improvement of 
the property. 

By this process the quickest increase of capital and the ampleftt 
means of future usefulness will be secured. In 1865, the almoner 
of the board dispensed SI, 000 for the relief and assistance of foreign 
immigrants. 

The Commissioners are now erecting, at a cost of $25,000, a 
large building at the corner of Sixth and Gratiot streets. The 
structure will be 40 feet front, 120 feet deep, and 3 stories high. 
Its accommodations will be spacious. It will contain 75 berths, and 
couches could be spread, upon an emergency, in the open spaces. 
It will comprise rooms for baggage, bathing, and cooking. An 
elevator and a safe will complete the conveniences of the establish- 
ment. The Board think that the accommodations of this building- 
will bo sufHciently large to meet the present wants of all that class 
of immigrants contemplated in the bequest. The friendly and judi- 



62 

cious hospitalities of this institution will not only relieve destitu- 
tion, but also promote immigration. 

The following extract from the organic ordinance of the 
Common Council fully explains the uses of the Mullanphy fund : 

^' First. In order that relief from said fund shall be furnished 
to all poor immigrants and travelers coming to St. Louis, on their 
way bona fide to settle in the West, a building shall be erected upon 
a lot at some convenient point, a part of which shall be fitted up 
for lodging and boarding rooms, with a hall for use in the day ; and 
on the lower floor, let there be kept the office of the Secretary of 
the Board and the business room, to which immigrants and travelers 
may first be taken. This plan is subject to such modifications 
by the Board of Commissioners as may be found convenient. This 
house shall have ample room for the deposit of baggage of the im- 
migrants, and for other necessary conveniences. An officer shall 
be appointed to be the Secretary and Business Agent of the Board. 
He shall collect all information needful for the benefit of immigrants 
and travelers, relating to climate, soil, character of land, &c., that 
will enable immigrants and travelers to learn, as far as practicable, 
all facts relating to localities by which they may determine the best 
place for them to go, and he shall, by all means in his power, and 
in the manner required of him by the Board, keep up correct inform- 
ation upon all such subjects, and he shall use his best endeavors to 
procure and keep in his office all information needed for the pur- 
poses above named, and shall procure and keep registei'ed, as far 
as practicable, a list of lands in different localities which may be 
offered to settlers, with a note of all facts relating thereto. 

Second. There shall be appointed an Assistant Secretary by 
the Board. He shall visit all boats and trains of cars arriving with 
immigrants and travelers, make himself known to them and give 
them such information on the spot as they should have to enable 
them to pass safely through the city, and, where they need assistance, 
he shall, under regulations to be adopted by the Board, take them 
to the building with their baggage when necessary, and see that 
tho}^ ai-e safely placed within the charge of agents of the house. 
There they shall by him be furnished with all necessary information 
as to boats, routes and lands, so as to be thoroughly informed upon 
all points useful to them. Where immigrants are poor and needy, 
they shall be relieved under regulations to be prescribed by the 
Board. And it shall be the especial duty of this officer to protect 
immigrants and travelers from impositions and false information 
attempte.'l by runners, and upon their departure this officer shall 
procure their tickets and superintend their shipment." 

After the fall improvement of the Mullanphy estate, the 
princely revenue accruing from the rents will be exclusively donated 
to the assistance of needy immigrants. Many a friendless passenger 
will yet bless the memory of him who organized his generosity into 
a perpetual beneficence. 

Even a general description of the Counties of Missouri would 
far exceed the prescribed limits of this pamphlet. Emigi'ants desir- 
ing such fullness of practical detail must procure the Geological 



63 

Eeports of the State, or wait till they reach St. Louis, where it will 
be easy to obtain all the information they need. Immigrants who 
have not already decided upon a location should buy through tickets 
to the farthest "points which they purpose to explore. For, even in 
case they should not go quite to the proposed destination, the local 
rates are so high that it would still be a matter of economj' to pur- 
chase the through ticket. 

Parties who propose to settle in the West would do well to 
form colonies. Then they could at once command the advantages 
of organized communities. They could bear with them their 
household gods, and rear in their honor sacred and secular temples 
— the church and the school house. The institutions transplanted 
fi'om a less genial clime might flourish in our fertile soil with a 
richer growth and mature the fruitage of a still fairer civilization. 

Oiir limitless expanse of unsettled lands invites the occupancy 
of colonists. The population of Missouri is not proportioned to 
the magnitude of the State. In 1860, our census was 1,182,000. 
If this State was as densely peopled as England, Missouri would 
contain a population of 25,000,000. By the extent and diversity of 
its resources, Missouri is better able to support this vast number in 
competency and independence than England is to maintain itspi'esent 
population. 

Missouri needs able-bodied men. There is opulence in muscle. 
The physical energies of a healthful man in the prime of life are 
appraised at $1,000. Every robust immigrant, however unblessed 
with the goods of fortune, eni-iches the State with his wealth of 
sinew. Our broad acres need the labors of myriads of workmen. 

The suppression of the rebellion is an augury of peaceful thrift. 
The restoration of the Union is a guarantee of National greatness. 
The American people are now entering upon a career of material 
prosperity to which the annals of political economy present no 
parallel. It requires no gift of prophecy to fortell the thronging 
millions who will, within a score of 3-ears, people this vast valley. A 
simple calculation based upon the tables of the census is all the in- 
spiration which the prediction demands. The tidal waves of pop- 
ulation which follow the star of empire will not pause in their 
westward flow, till they break against the rocky barriers of the 
Sierra Nevada. The rich mineral deposits of the Eocky Mountains 
will lead to an early settlement of the surrounding country. Soon 
tens of millions will people the vast domain which lies on the "sun- 
set side of the Father of Waters." Cottages, hamlets, cities will 
spring up. Every resource of nature will be explored. Wealth 
will be developed. The industrial products of the country will 
reach aggregates which will startle the statistician. The Mississippi 
valley, whose annual yield of cereals now exceeds 1,000,000,000 
bushels, will become the granary of the world. Metallurgy will 
utilize in countless forms and uses the rich products of our mines. 
Our manufactories will create capital, economize material, natur- 
alize gold, nationalize comfort, vindicate our industrial independence, 
and satisfy our American wants with domestic productions. The 
exchange of commodities, in obedience to the laws of demand and sup- 



64 

ply will freight our railroads with the merchandize of a vast internal 
trade. Our vessels, laden with richer cargoes than the fabled 
freights of classic argosies, navigating every stream and travei^sing 
every main, will expand our inland and international commerce into 
still grander proportions. The restless energies of the Anglo- 
American character will achieve a greatness that will surpass 
precedent, and justify to mankind the soundness of our faith in the 
incentives, stability and excellence of republican institutions. 

• In the accomplishment of this great national destiny, Missouri 
will do her full part. Emerging from her fierce conflict with treason, 
triumphant yet sorely wounded, she will not now, with her brow 
radiant with the new luster of freedom and her loins girt with the 
untarnished cincture of loyalty, yield to any of her sister States in 
the generous rivalries of peace. But her present industrial force 
is not equal to the development of her resources. She urgently 
solicits assistance. She seeks the co-operation of the self-reliant 
laborers of J^ew England, and of the two hundred thousand sturdy 
immigrants who are annually landing at the port of New York. 
She promises a cordial welcome and liberal compensation to the 
higher classes of trained and skilful workmen. She especially 
needs educated labor. She appeals to an intelligent self-interest, 
and invites the potters, goldsmiths, watchmakers, vinedressers, silk- 
weavers, glassmakers and metallurgists of Europe to come to her 
heritage and better their condition. 

Free Missouri, instinct with the spirit of progress and loyal to 
the genius of republican liberty will welcome the immigrant to the 
enjoyment of her boundless advantages, and enrich his industry 
with generous recompense. Millions may accept the proffered 
hospitalities without exhausting the ample board which Missouri 
spreads upon her table lands. 



«©-*-^»— 



THE 



NATURAL ADAPTATION 



OP 



aiiit ^ottis 



TO 



IRON MANUFACTURES. 

BY 

S. WATERHOUSE, 

ST. LOUIS, MO. 



ST. LOUIS: 

A. WIEBUSCH & SON, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 

1869. 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1869, by S. WATERHOUSK, in the Clerk's OfBce of 
the TJ. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. 



jLnPE3srDi2£ 



TO THE SECOND EDITION OP 



"THE RESOURCES OF MISSOURI." 



If the difficulty of altering stereotype plates did not prevent 
any change in the letter-press of the preceding pages, new and im- 
pressive proofs of the natural wealth and capabilities of Missouri 
could now be incorporated in this edition. Since the date of 
original publication, valuable statistics respecting the productions, 
growth, and resources of the State have been collected. But these 
facts only corroborate the foregoing statements with the emphasis 
of larger aggregates and stronger evidences of productive capacity. 

St. Louis is expanding with a steady and substantial growth. 
A report recently made under municipal authority shows that, 
at the beginning of the present year, more than 2000 buildings — 
almost all of them built of brick and many of them faced with stone 
— were either in process of erection or just finished. The present 
population of St. Louis is 240,000. 

The subscription by responsible parties of a capital stock of 
$3,000,000 ensures the completion of the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge. 
This bridge will cross the Mississippi on three arches. The distance 
between the extreme piers will be 1584 feet ; but the length of the 
bridge, including the stone approaches, will be about 3700 feet. 
The central span will be 515 feet between abutments, and the other 
two will be 497 feet. The two mid-river piers will be respectively 
175 and 200 feet high. The width of the bridge will permit side- 
walks for foot-passengers, a double track along the middle for 
street cars, and carriage-ways on either side for common vehicles. 
The double track for steam cars will lie directly below the ordinary 
road-bed. The bridge will be constructed of crucible cast steel. 
The company purposes to finish the work within three years. 
This structure, affording new and cheaper facilities for mercantile 
exchange, will give a powerful impulse to the commerce and prosper- 



ity of St. Louis. It will also be, with its massive piers and grace- 
ful proportions, a beautiful and enduring proof of American skill in 
civil engineering. 

St. Louis will soon become a great grain mart. The diversion 
of cereal freight from the northern lines of eastward transportation 
has begun. Already large quantities of grain have been shipped 
from this port to New York and Europe by way of the Mississij^pi 
river. It has often been asserted that the cost per mile of trans- 
porting a ton of grain is by rail fifteen mills, by canal eight mills, 
and by the Jlississippi one mill. If this statement is true, then noth- 
ing can long withhold from our majestic river the grain-carrying 
trade of this Yalley. The Northern lines, with their immense cap- 
ital, efficient cooperation, and mechanical facilities, may delay this 
result, but they cannot ultimately defeat it. With the erection of 
elevators at the various points of shipment, with the extension of 
our system of barge transportation, with the deepening of the chan- 
nel at the Balize, and with the establishment of a line of grain- 
carrying steamers between New Orleans and New York, the cereal 
products of this Valley must inevitably seek eastern and foreign 
markets by way of the Mississippi river. The magnitude of this 
movement may be inferred from the fact, that the annual grain 
crop of the Mississippi Valley is now about 1,000,000,000 bushels. 
By sagacious, energetic and united action, the river towns can secure 
the early success of this undertaking and enrich themselves with 
an unwonted prosperity. Whenever this possibility is realised, 
St. Louis will become the central granary of the Mississippi Valley. 

The railroad system of Missouri is rapidly forming new con- 
nections. 

An air-line is now building from St. Louis to Terre Haute by 
way of Vandalia. This road, which will be in operation during the 
current year, will shorten the distance to New York 26 miles. 

The western branch of the North Missouri railroad, running 
from Moberly to Kansas City, a distance of 125 miles, is now 
finished. It is 271 miles by this lino from St. Louis to Kansas City. 
The northern extension of the same road is now completed to the 
State line, 233 miles from St. Louis, and by the middle of next June 
will reach Ottumwa, 46 miles north of the Missouri border, where it 
will connect with the railroads of Iowa. In a year or two, there 
will bo a direct railroad communication between St. Louis and 
St. Paul ; and within a few years, a railroad will certainly be built 
from' Chillicothe or Macon to Omaha. 



Before next July, the Iron Mountain railroad will be finished 
to Belmont. At Columbus, on the opposite side of the Mississippi, 
this road will connect with 7000 miles of Southern railroad. 
Last December the gauge was changed to five feet, which is the uni» 
form width of Southern tracks. This change will permit the trans- 
portation of freight to any part of the South withoiit re-shipment. 
A ferryboat, capable of carrying ten loaded freight cars, will ply 
between Belmont and Columbus. In addition to the commercial 
marine of New Orleans, a new line of steamers to run between 
Mobile and Havana is now organizing. This Iron Mountain road, 
reaching below the obstructions of ice and low water, communicate 
ing with the whole railroad system of the South, and directly con- 
necting with the ports of New Orleans and Mobile, will enable 
St. Louis to evade the barriers of ice and sand, preserve an uninter- 
rupted outlet to its trade, and regain its Southern, West Indian and 
South American commerce. 

A powerful company of eastern capitalists have purchased the 
South Pacific railroad and are pushing it forward with commend- 
able energy. It is already finished to Arlington, a distance of 
126 miles from St. Louis. The company hope to finish the road 
to Springfield, 115 miles beyond its present terminus, during the 
current year. It is their intention to extend this line through 
Southwest Missouri and along the valley of the Canadian river to 
Anton Chico, where it will connect with the Southern extension of 
the Kansas Pacific. From the point of junction a single track will 
be built to San Francisco, with branches to the Gulf of California, 
San Diego and Los Angelos. 

During the coming summer, the Missouri Pacific railroad will 
change its gauge from 5 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 8i inches. Its gauge 
will then be uniform with that of the Kansas Pacific. In view of 
this change, 45 new engines have already been ordered. 

The Kansas Pacific railroad, now extends to Sheridan, 688 miles 
west of St. Louis. The distance from Sheridan to Denver is 215 miles, 
and from Denver to Cheyenne — where the Kansas Pacific will form 
a junction with the Union Pacific — 112 miles. 

The Union Pacific is now completed more than 1000 miles 
west of Omaha. The Central Pacific now runs eastward from San 
Francisco about 750 miles. More than 700 miles of this continental 
highwaj^ — including the extensions of both the LTnion and Central 
Pacific — were constructed in 1868. Less than 100 miles now remain 



6 

to be built. This portion will probably be finished by the first of 
next July — more than six years before the time prescribed by law 
for the completion of the road. Then an unbroken line of railway, 
3300 miles long, will stretch from New York to San Francisco. 
This gigantic work, prosecuted during the most formidable rebellion 
of modern times, and finished amid the derangements of national 
finance incident to civil convulsions, must ever be regarded as an 
extraordinary triumph of American energy. 

Immigration is now flowing into Missouri in larger tides than 
ever before. According to the official estimate of Governor Fletcher, 
500,000 immigrants have settled in this State since the beginning 
of 1865. The credit of Missouri now rests on a firm basis ; our com- 
merce is regaining the prosperity which prevailed prior to the civil 
war J our agriculture is amassing a vaster wealth of harvests ; our 
mining is excavating larger lodes of mineral riches ; our domestic 
manufactures are increasing our productive capital and industrial 
welfare. In fine, the prospects of the State are cheering, and noth- 
ing but a spiritless and dishonorable inactivity on the part of its 
own citizens can now retard the greatness of Missouri. 

I gladly avail myself of this opportunity to acknowledge my 
indebtedness to the State Board of Immigration for its friendly 
assistance, and especially to Governor Fletcher for his cordial and 
efficient co-operation in every effort for the material advancement 
of Missouri. 

S. W. 

"Washington University, March 1st, 1869 



THE 

NATURAL ADAPTATION OF ST. LOUIS 

TO 

IRON MANUFACTURES. 

BY 

S. WATEEHOUSB. 



The loth day of April 1868 is the date of an event important 
to the industrial interests of the West. On that day, the experiment 
of making iron with mineral coal was successfully tried at Caron- 
delet, Missouri. The furnace, then started, still continues in active 
operation, and has produced in all more than 3000 tons of iron. 
The character of this iron is shown by the following statement, 
signed by some of our largest and most experienced iron-makers 
and dealers. 

St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 20, 1869. 
Dear Sir: 

In reply to your inquiry as to the quality of 
the Pig Iron made at Carondelet from the Big Muddy coal and 
Iron Mountain ore, I beg to state that it is of excellent quality — 
the No. 1 being a superior foundry iron, and the Nos. 2 and 3 
well adapted to forge purposes, both possessing extraordinary 
strength, and in that respect nearly, if not fully, equal to any other 
stone-coal iron which we have ever used. 

Yours respectfully, 

JULES VALLE, Vice-President Laclede Iron & Manufacturing Co. 

GILES F. ,riLLEY, President Excelsior Manufacturing Co. 

COLLINS & HOLLIDAY, Broadway Foundry. 

GERARD B. ALLEN & CO., Fulton Iron Works. 

A. B. MEEKER & CO., Dealers in Pig Iron. 

BRIDGE, BEACH & CO., Empire Stove Works. 

S. R. FOX, President Malleable Iron Works. 

THOS. HOWARD & CO., Excelsior Iron Works. 

SHICKLE, HARRISON & CO., ^tna Iron Works. 

JAMES WAUGH, President Bogy Nail Mill Co. 

ALEX. CROZIER, Proprietor Eagle Foundry. 



8 

Two or three of these firms judge of the properties of this iron 
merely from observation, but all the rest have used the iron in their 
manufactories, and express the results of practical knowledge. An 
old iron-maker from Pittsburg, observing the superiority of this 
metal, hesitated to believe that it was made with raw coal. The 
proprietors of the Phoenixville and Danville Iron Works in Penn- 
sylvania have testified to the excellence of this iron. Its fusibility, 
ductility and strength render it especially suitable for common and 
malleable castings. The iron is red-short. At first, the yield of 
furnace was from 60 to 70 tons of iron per week; now the mean 
product is 126 tons a week. The proprietors feel confident of their 
ability to increase this amount to 140 tons a week. But the 
present production is large for a furnace with boshes only 11 
feet 3 inches in diameter. The first and poorest product of the 
furnace brought $33 a ton j the later yield has commanded from 
$34 to §42 a ton. 

Formerly the cost of producing iron at Carondelet was about 
^28 a ton. This high price of production was attributable to the 
radical defects of the furnace and machinery. Great credit ia 
due to Messrs. McKernan, Lilly & Co. for the success which they 
achieved under grave difficulties. But though they introduced 
many improvements, the imperfections of the original structure 
were incapable of complete remedy. 

The height of the furnace is 40 feet. 

The diameter of the tunnel head 5 feet. 

" " boshes 11 feet 3 inches. 

It is apparent from a mere inspection of these dimensions that 
the furnace was not properly proportioned for smelting iron with 
raw coal. It is, too, a single furnace, and therefore does not per* 
mit that economy which a double furnace secures. The proprietors 
were not able to avail themselves of the latest results of experience 
and scientific investigation — they were compelled to use a defective 
furnace and inadequate machinery. It is a matter of just surprise 
that under such disadvantages the cost of production is so low. An 
old Pennsylvania iron-master, after examining the works at Caron- 
delet and learning the cost of materials and labor, recently ex- 
pressed the opinion that, with a rightly constructed double furnace 
and improved machinery, one-fifth of the above cost of produc- 
tion could be saved. 

In order that eastern and (foreign manufacturers may not be 
compelled to rely upon mere assertions, the data for their own cal- 
culations are given. 

The distance of Carondelet from St. Louis is 6^ miles. 

« « " Irondale 63 " 

« " « Iron Mountain 741 « 

" " " Pilot Knob 80 " 

« " « Big Muddy Coal mines 120 " 



9r 

Por the different kinds of labor, the Carondelet Iron "Works 
pay the following prices in currency : 

To the manager $2,000.00 per year. 

" founder 1,800.00 " 

" engineer 175.00 per month. 

" keepers 2.62 per day. 

« helpers 2.25 " 

" fillers and cinder-men 2.00 " 

" other laborers 1.75 " 

Competition and greater facilities for transportation will ma- 
terially reduce some of these expenses, but a calculation based upon 
present prices shows that iron can now be made at Carondelet for 
$25 a ton. 

The following statement of the cost of making one ton of pig 
iron at Carondelet is not an estimate, but an exhibit, copied from 
the books of the company, of the actual working expenses of the 
furnace during one week. 

1.50 tons of Iron Mountain ore, at net cost of $5.50 per ton. ..$8.25 

1.22 " " Big Muddy coal, " " 5.25 " "...6.40 

.30 ton of Connellville coke, " « 9.00 " "...2.70 

.37 " " limestone, at $0.90 per ton 33 

.08 " " mill-cinder, at $2.50 per ton 20 

Clay and sand 12 

Labor 5.50 

Interest, taxes and insurance 1.50 

Total cost of one ton of pig iron $25.00 

Present cost of Big Muddy coal : 

Net price, delivered in barges, per ton $4.25 

Cost ot unloading, " 25 

25 per cent, of slack " 1.50 

$6.00 
Yalue of slack at half price 75 

Total cost of one ton of Big Muddy coal $5.25 

To supply the means of determining the relative cost of mak- 
ing iron, the following data, obtained from a leading manufactory 
in Johnstown, Pa., are submitted. 

Per cent, of iron in ore $0.36 

" " fixed carbon in coke 0.78 

Cost per ton of coal 1.30 

" " calcined ore 5.00 

« " labor 4.90 



10 

The other elements of cost are not given. 

The subjoined table is furnished by one of the largest Iron 
Works in Pittsburg, Pa. 

Percent, of iron in ore $ 0.66 

14 tons of ore at fll.OO per ton 16.50 

80 bushels of coke at 7 cts. per bushel 5.60 

I ton of limestone at $2.50 per ton 83 

Labor 4.00 

Interest and taxes on $200,000 invested for an annual pro- 
duct of 20,000 tons of iron 80 

85000 per year for repairs and incidentals 25 

Total cost of one ton of pig iron $27.98 

For ores containing but 57 per cent, of metal, add I ton 

more of ore 2.75 

$30.73 

If these estimates, which are made by some of the first iron- 
men in the country, are correct, then St. Louis must inevitably be- 
come the great centre of American iron manufactures. The cost 
of making iron at Johnstown, Pa., Brazil, Ind., Massillon and 
Youngstown, O., varies from $25 to $88 per ton. Of the cost at 
Youngstown, the courtesy of the Proprietors of the Mahoning 
Works enables us to speak with certainty. We quote from a 
letter of Messrs. Brown, Bonnell & Co.: 

"In our manufacture of pig metal, we use about | of Lake 
Superior and J of native ore to the ton of pig. The Lake ore costs 
delivered at our furnaces about $9, and the native ore $3 per ton. 
Blackband ore, yielding about 50 per cent, of iron, costs $5 per 
ton. The coal costs about $2 or $2.50 per ton. It takes 2^ or 
2^ tons of coal to reduce one ton of metal. The limestone used 
as a flux we get delivered to us at $1.12| per ton, and the whole 
cost of making one ton of pig metal is about $25." 

Possibly Brazil may be able to manufacture iron somewhat 
cheaper than Youngstown can, but even if the cost of production 
at St. Louis is no less than at Brazil, still for the markets of that 
vast region lying West of the Mississippi St. Louis would have in 
its favor the freight between Brazil and the river. This alone, 
with no difference in economy of manufacture, would give our 
metropolis control of the trade beyond the Mississippi. This freight 
is about $4 a ton, and the cost of carrying Missouri ore to Brazil 
and of bringing back the iron to St. Louis is about $8 a ton. And 
if, as our iron-masters strenuously assert, iron can ultimately be 
smelted at Carondelet from $3 to $5 a ton cheaper than it can be 
at Brazil, then this is an additional guarantee of our supremacy in 
iron manufacture. The extent of our shipments of Missouri ore 
to the furnaces of other States may be inferred from the transac- 
tions of a single month. 



11 



The quantity shipped over the Iron Mountain railroad in 
October 1868 was : 

To furnaces in and near Brazil, Ind 1580 tons. 



" Pittsburg, Pa. 



.4500 



During the year 1868, the Indianapolis and St. Louis railroad 
carried to Indiana more than 10,000 tons of Missouri ore. In 1868, 
from March to December, 72,400 tons of Iron Mountain ore were 
shipped to furnaces on the Ohio river. It is estimated that 120,000 
tons of this ore will be sent to same destination in 1869. Doubtless 
a portion of the manufactured product will be brought back to St. 
Louis. Thus Missouri, with all its native facilities for iron-making, 
is now exporting its ore to distant States and paying to the rail- 
roads and manufactories of other commonwealths the cost of pro- 
duction and of a double transportation, while apart from the 
expense of freight, the iron could be made more cheaply within its 
own borders and the capital invested in the manufacture be em- 
ployed for the encouragement of its own industries. 

The large production of stone-coal iron will cause a more ac- 
tive demand for charcoal iron. This demand Missouri can eco- 
nomically meet. The following exhibit of the cost of producing 
charcoal iron is kindly furnished by Edwin Harrison, Esq., Pro- 
prietor of the Irondale furnace : 



ITEMS. 



COST 



at 

furnace. 



per ton 
of iron 
made. 



Charcoal — actual amount consumed in furnace in 
bushels of 2600 cubic inches 

Charcoal — by receiver's measure, showing waste 
to be about 10 percent 

Ore — Iron Mountain, 64 per cent, of iron, — tons... 

Ore — Hematite, red, 45 or 50 per cent., some- 
times used with Iron Mountain ore — per ton 

Ore — Pilot Knob, richness about 50 per cent., 
sometimes used with Iron Mt. ore — per ton 

Limestone — Magnesian, 1 to 10 of ore 

Labor and superintendence of every kind, except 
that relating to and already estimated in the 
cost of coal, ore and limestone 

Materials, other than coal, ore and limestone 

Taxes — national, state and county 





S 


cts. 


$ 


133 








148 
1.55 


2 


08 
85 


11 

4 




5 


25 






2 


96 


6 



cts. 



84 
41 



20 



43 
90 
32 



Total cost 



824 10 



The region adjacent to the ore is heavily wooded, and is 
capable of supplying large quantities of fuel suitable for making 
charcoal. 



12 



THE QUALITY, EXTENT AND COST OF THE MATERIEL 
OF FURNACES. 



Common red brick can be bought at Carondelet in unlimited 
quantities for $7 to $8 per thousand. 

Good clay for the furnace and sand for the pig bed are pro- 
cured from neighboring banks at the sole expense of hauling and 
handling. 

The fire-rock for the furnaces was formerly brought from re- 
mote states. These hearth-stones, imported at a very heavy ex- 
pense, seldom lasted more than five months. But, a few years ago, 
a geological examination discovered a superior quarry of infusible 
sandstone in the immediate vicinity of the Iron mines. This fire- 
rock is very refractory, and sometimes resists the heat of the fur- 
nace for 18 months. A full set of hearth-stones, consisting of 
13 pieces, costs in place ^250. The value per cubic foot, dressed and 
ready for use, is about ^1.45. 

An excellent limestone for flux is procured within a few rods 
of the present furnaces. The quantity is inexhaustible. The price 
is $4 per 100 cubic leet. 

Constituents of the limestone found within half a mile of the 
Iron Mountain furnaces : 

Eesidue, insoluble in dilute hydrochloric acid 6.97 

Alumina, with peroxide of iron 1.11 

Carbonate of lime 50.38 

" " magnesia 41.74 

Elements of the limestone procured in the immediate neigh- 
borhood of the Iron Works at Pilot Knob : 

Silica 5.62 

Alumina and peroxide of iron 82 

Carbonate of lime 50.10 

" " magnesia 43.24 

Composition of the limestone obtained two or three miles from 
Shepherd Mountain : 

Silica 1.05 

Alumina trace. 

Carbonate of lime 97.06 

" " magnesia 1.70 



13 

Twenty years ago one of our largest iron-founders imported 
from Liverpool the fire-brick used in the construction of his cupola, 
but now fire-clay, rivaling the best deposits of Europe, is procured 
at Cheltenham, within five miles of the St. Louis Court House. 
The bed is very thick and extensive. The deposit far exceeds any 
possible demand of the furnaces. Fire-brick made of this clay is 
capable of resisting very high temperatures. It lasts in the fur- 
naces from 3 to 5 years. The excellence of the material recommends 
it for retorts, alembics, crucibles and furnaces. According to Pro- 
fessor Worthen, "the best fire-clays contain from 60 to 70 per cent. 
of silica, from 25 to 35 per cent, of alumina, and sometimes 1 or 2 
per cent, of oxj^d of iron, lime, or magnesia, with 5 to 10 per cent, 
of water." Two analyses of the Cheltenham clay show the follow- 
ing elements : 

CRUDE CLAY. WASHED CLAY. 

percent.' ' percent. 

Silica 6L02 59.60 

Alumina 25.64 26.41 

Oxide of iron 1.70 1.61 

Lime 70 1.00 

Magnesia 08 07 

Potassa 48 29 

Soda 25 16 

Sulphur 45 38 

Water 10.00 10.36 

In order to'aflford ample means of comparison, the composition 
of the best English and Continental fire-clays is given. 

STOURBRIDGE CLAYS. 

Silica 73.82 70.50 68.05 67.34 

Alumina 15.88 25.46 18.85 21.01 

Protoxide of iron 2.95 2.04 5.10 2.03 

Alkalies 90 00 00 1.38 

Lime trace 00 00 00 

Magnesia trace 1.05 80 00 

Water 6.45 00 6.00 8.24 



TAMWORTH CLAY. AMBLECOTE CLAY. 

Silica 71.41 61.33 

Alumina 21.17 26.22 

Protoxide of iron 91 1.06 

Alkalies 82 68 

Lime 04 41 

Magnesia trace 19 

Water 6.06 10.11 



14 



CONTINENTAL FIRE-CLAYS. 
Forges des Eaux. St. Armand. Hessian. Beleu. Bourdan. 

Silica, 73 73.3 70.9 63.57 60.60 

Alumina, 27 24.0 24.8 27.45 26.39 

Sesquioxide of iron, trace 2.7 3.8 15 2.50 

Lime, 00 0.0 0.0 55 84 

Magnesia 00 0.0 trace trace 00 

Water 00 0.0 0.0 9.91 9.20 

These results of the most favorable analyses of the best Eng- 
lish and Continental fire-clays are purposely selected. Probably 
the finest European clays are better than our own. But the su- 
periority is slight. The St. Louis fire-brick stand the tests of 
practical use. They bear their fiery ordeal with remarkable en- 
durance. The present cost of furnace brick is $40 per thousand, 
delivered at the Works. 

IRON. 

Iron abounds in different portions of Missouri, but the stu- 
pendous masses found in St. Francois, Iron and Eeynold counties, 
dwarf into insignificance the wealth of other mines. 

Shepherd Mountain is 660 feet high. The ore contains a large 
percentage of iron. The height of Pilot Knob above the Mississippi 
river is 1118 feet. Its base, 581 feet from the summit, is 360 acres. 
The upper section of 141 feet is judged to contain 14,000,000 tons 
of ore. 

The elevation of Iron Mountain is 228 feet, and the area of its 
base 500 acres. The solid contents of the cone are 230,000,000 tons. 
It is thought that every foot beneath the surface will yield 3,000,000 
tons of ore. At the depth of 150 feet, the artesian auger was still 
penetrating solid ore. 

These mountains contain enough iron above the^ surface to 
afford for 200 years an annual supply of 1,000,000 tons. The iron 
is strong, tough and fibrous. 

The Iron Mountain ore is a specular oxide. This is the most 
abundant and valuable kind of ore. It contains less than one per 
cent, of silica, which, it is thought, facilitates smelting. 

The ore of Pilot Knob is a silicious specular oxide. It con- 
tains from 10 to 20 per cent, of silica. 

The ores of Shepherd Mountain are specular and magnetic 
oxides. The magnetic oxide is least abundant. The ore is very 
pure. It contains less than 2 per cent, of silex and alumina. It is 
claimed that these impurities — which are the only foreign elements 



15 

in the ore — promote fusion. The mines of Shepherd Mountain 
are no longer worked. They are less accessible than the other iron 
mines, and the ore developed in the progress of mining is less rich 
and abundant than that found at the surface. 



ANALYSES OF ORES. 
^' ■ Iron Mountain. Pilot Knob. Shepherd Mountain 

Silica 66 12.03 1.04 

Alumina 00 1.61 60 

Peroxide of iron 99.33 86.07 98.30 

Iron S69.55 60.27 68.83 

The following table from Truran's "Iron Manufacture of Great 
Britain", shows the highest per cent, of iron in British ores. In 
many cases, rich specimens were selected for the analysis. 

Ores. Highest per cent, of iron 

South Wales 41.46 

Staffordshire 37.70 

Derbyshire 41.70 

Yorkshire 38.80 

Scotch 41.60 

North Wales 55.00 

Welsh 44.70 

Dean Forest 46.50 

Lancashire' 56.60 

Bristol 58.90 

Cornish 60.00 

Merionethshire 49.60 

Northhamptonshire 47.00 

During the past week, the yield of Iron Mountain ore at the 
Carondelet Works was 66.66 per cent, of iron. This result, how- 
ever, indicates unusual richness ; ordinarily the Iron Mountain ore 
produces 60 per cent, of iron, and the Pilot Knob ore about 56 per 
cent. ; but the average per ^centage of iron contained in British 
ores is considerably less than than the preceding figures. The mean 
yield of Swedish ores is 50 per cent.; but, according to Bauerman, 
select specimens of Dannemora ore have sometimes produced as 
high as 65.6 per cent, of metallic iron. 

No analysis has been made of the pig metal recently smelted 
with crude coal in the Carondelet furnaces, but a specimen of 
Missouri iron which was analysed in 1867 yielded ; 



Workington. 


Dean Forest. 


333 


... 000 


1.011 


... 2.360 


043 


... 000 


trace 


... 037 


3.5-i8 


... 3.250 


123 


... 000 


171 


... 000 



16 

Carbon (including 2.94 of graphite) 3. 824 

Silicium 2.902 

Phosphorus 134 

Sulphur 098 

Calcium 240 

Iron 92.760 

Three specimens of English iron, smelted from hematite ores 
with selected cokes, yielded, according to an analysis made in 1867: 

Cleator. 

Carbon ..■.....■, 3.400 

Silica.... :.'.;.' 1.900 

Phosphorus 049 

Sulphur 027 

Graphite 000 

Manganese 000 ..... 

Titanium 000 

Iron 94.624 94.771 94.353 

If the best specimens of the iron recently made at Carondelet 
had been subjected to an analysis, the results of this comparison 
would be still more favorable to our own iron. 

The ores of Missouri, found in different but. adjacent localities, 
vary in quality. A proper combination of these ores makes a very 
strong and superior iron. The quantity of iron ore existing in 
Missouri is practically inexhaustible. 

COAL. 

The Big Muddy Coal mines are situated in Jackson County, 
Illinois. The company which works them owns 10,000 or 12,000 
acres of coal fields. The distance of the mines from the Mississippi 
river by rail is 18^ miles, and from Carondelet 113^ miles. 

The depth at which the coal used for smelting iron is found 
varies from the surface where it outcrops to 200 or 300 feet. The 
second and third beds of coal are separated from each other by a 
deposit of fii'e-clay from 1^ to 3 inches thick. If these two seams, 
which are nearly equal, are taken together, their aggregate thick- 
ness is about 5 feet 10 inches. The following description of this 
coal is given in the Geological Keport of the State of Illinois : 

"The coal worked out of the bank of Murphysboro (near the 
Big Muddy mines) has a beautiful appearance. It is hard, compact, 
free from sulphuret, and of excellent quality." 



17 

The elements of this coal are, according to two analyses made 
bj different chemists : 

Water 3.67 3.620 

Volatile combustible matter ... ,22.01 33.531 

Fixed carbon .70.58 60.492 

Sulphur.... 75 858 

Ash 3.28 1.479 

In one of these reports, the chemist specially directs attention 
to the small per centage of sulphur and ash in the Big Muddy coal, 
and avows his ignorance of any "coals which can compete with 
them in the West for metallurgical purposes." 

The purest British coals contain a much larger per cent, of 
carbon than the Big Muddy coal. From the full analysis given by 
Truran, we select three elements of best furnace coals of Great 
Britain : 

Carbon. Sulphur. Ash. 

Pontypool 

Swansea Valley 

Dowlais Furnace 

Hirwain " 

Alfreton Derbyshire Furnace. 74. 98, 

Newcastle Furnace 

Yorkshire " 

Gartsherry " 

The bituminous coals of Dean Forest, Shropshire, Derbyshire, 
North Wales, Yorkshire, and Northumberland contain, according 
to Truran, from 56 to 75 per cent, of carbon. 

The Welsh coals used for blast furnaces commonly yield from 
80 to 92 per cent, of carbon. 

The Big Muddy coal sustains the burden of the furnace very 
well. At the Carondelet Works, this coal has been subjected to a 
blast of 600^^ or 700° with a pressure of 5 pounds to the square 
inch. Under this severe test, the coal maintained its form and 
burden with a success that justifies the constant use of a blast of 
the same temperature with a pressure of 3 or 4 pounds to the 
square inch. 

The so-called Chester Coal mines, located in Jackson, Perry 
and Eandolph counties, Illinois, are 12 miles from the Mississippi 
river, 68 ^ from Carondelet, and 75 from St. Louis. The company 
owns about 18,000 acres of land. According to the published re- 
port of the company, the following statements are based upon actual 
explorations. Three beds of coal, severally 7, 4 and 6| feet thick, 
underlie the Chester tract. The depth of these deposits is respect- 
ively 29|, 77 and 119 feet below the surface. 

2 



.80.40... 


.... 9... 


....6.50 


.91.50... 


.... 6... 


....1.50 


.90.00... 


....1.3... 


....1.40 


.87.20... 


.... 7... 


....4.40 


.74.98... 


.... 0... 


....2.68 


.78.00... 


....1.6... 


....8.20 


.78.80... 


....2.7... 


...4.60 


.77.50... 


.... 5... 


....6.40 



18 

Of the first seam, it is claimed that two layers, 20 and 18 inches 
in thickness, are fit in their crude state for smelting iron. The 
three most favorable analyses of Chester coal give these results: 



Water 2.78.. 

Vol. combust, matter 31.62. . 

Carbon in coke 61.23. . 

Sulphur 37.. 

Ash (light colored) 4.37. . 



. 6.310 6.225 

,28.687 26.500 

62.753 61.575 

. 000 000 

. 2.250 5.300 



Ormsby. 


Brier nil! 


.64.40.... 


....61.24 


.33.20.... 


....35.06 


. 2.40.... 


.... 2.79 



Sometimes the joints of this coal are filled with foreign matter 
which occasionally contains as high as 5 per cent, of sulphur. Eut 
the latter element is chiefly restricted to the joints. In the best 
layers scarcely more than traces of sulphur are found in the body 
of the coal. Heretofore the Ormsby coal in Pennsylvania, and the 
Brier Hill coal in Ohio have been regarded as the best crude coals 
in the country for the manufacture of iron. The fitness of the 
Chester coal for smelting iron may be inferred from its similarity 
to these coals. Analysis discloses a remarkable resemblance of 
qualities : 

Big Mudily. 

Fixed carbon 62.75 

Yol. combust, matter. , .28.68 

Ash 2.25.... 

The quantity of Big Muddy and Chester coal suitable for blast 
furnaces it is at present impossible to determine. This question 
can only be settled by the operations of actual mining. But geo- 
logical investigations and practical tests warrant the belief that the 
amount of coal adapted to the manufacture of iron is too vast to be 
exhausted before the lapse of centuries. 

We have specially spoken of two companies, because they are 
the only ones engaged in mining the Big Muddy and Chester coal 
fields. According to geological surveys, Missouri contains 27,000 
square miles of coal measures and Illinois 35,000. In some in- 
stances, there are three strata of coal, one below' the other, each 
capable of being worked. In these immense deposits, whose qual- 
ities vary with the locality, it is presumable that other coals fit for 
making iron will be found. There is a strong probability that 
Missouri will yet discover amid its vast mineral resources veins of 
coal suitable in their crude condition for smelting iron. We hope 
that new coal fields will be found, other companies formed, and ad- 
ditional mines opened, in order that a larger force, and more active 
competition may increase the quantity and reduce the price of 
available fuel. 



19 

THE MAGNITUDE OF FOREIGN MANUFACTURES. 



In 1854, Great Britain produced more than 3,500,000 tons of 
pig iron, and nearl}^ 2,000,000 tons of malleable iron. The manu- 
factured product of its 600 furnaces was valued at $125,000,000. 
The number of men engaged in quarrying, mining and manufactui'- 
ing was 238,000. 2120 steam-engines, with an aggregate force 
242,000 horses, were the motive power of this gigantic industry. 

The following tabular statement exhibits the production of 
iron and steel in Europe during the year 1865 : 

Country. Pig Iron. Steel. 

Great Britain, tons 4,500,000 71,250 

France 1,225,000 30,000 

Prussia 515,000 33,250 

Belgium 362,500 4,000 

Austria 337,500 21,250 

Eussia 300,000 5,000 

Sweden 225,000 6,500 

Norway 25,000 000 

German States 212,500 1,750 

Italy 37,500 750 

Spain 60,000 500 

Denmark 15,000 000 

Total .7,815,000 174,250 

In 1866, 9,665,000 tons of ore, worth $15,595,400, were extracted 
from British mines. The product of this ore was 4,523,897 tons of 
pig iron, with an approximate value of $60,000,000. 

In 1866, France made $25,000,000 worth of pig metal; and for 
1868, the estimated production of French furnaces was valued at 
$37,000,000. 

In 1867, the manufacture of French steel amounted to 58,000 
tons. 

An approximate estimate of the present yearly production of 
Bessemer steel is : 



England 312,000 tons. 

Prussia 75,920 " 

France 45,760 " 



Austria 38,800 tons. 

Sweden 27,560 " 

Belgium 5,200 " 



Europe is now annually making more than 8,000,000 tons of 
pig iron. The magnitute of this product is impressive. But this is 
only the raw material which art is fashioning into myriad forms of 
usefulness and beauty. The dexterous hand of the artisan some- 
times adds a thousand-fold to the original value of the material. 



20 

It is estimated that European industry annually creates in the 
countless products of iron manufacture a capital of $2,000,000,000. 
The distribution among the working classes of such an enormous 
sum must exert a beneficent influence upon the wealth and happi- 
ness of the nations of Europe. Thus this great industry provides 
alike the resources of domestic comfort and public defense — it 
equally heightens the enjoyments of peace and strengthens the 
einews of war. 



THE EXTENT OF AMERICAN IRON MANUFACTURES AND 
IMPORTATIONS. 



Mr. McAllister, 
Secretary of the American Iron and Steel Association — from whose 
able report the following statistics are gathered — gives the ap- 
pended exhibit of the amount of pig iron made with coke and raw 
coal : 

1866. 1867. 1868. 

Pennsylvania 170,600 tons 191,072 tons 204,000 tons. 

Ohio 97,198 " 126,375 " 22,000 « 

West Virginia 1,198 « 1,200 " 

Other States 24,000 « 

The quantity of pig iron made with charcoal was : 

1866. 1867. 1868. 

Vermont 4,816 tons 1,907 tons. 

Massachusetts 14,514 

Connecticut 19,671 

New York 24,920 

New Jersey 6,426 

Pennsylvania 57,841 

Maryland 26,652 

Ohio 87,888 

Michigan 35,448 

Missouri 25,663 

Wisconsin 5,241 

Kentucky 15,000 

Other States 8,500 

Total 332,580 344,341 370,000 

The total amount of pig iron made in the United States was : 

1866. 1867. 1868. .'5 

Anthracite 749,367 tons 784,783 tons 893,000 tons. 

Eaw bituminous coal 

and coke 268,996 « 318,647 « 340,000 « 

Charcoal 332,780 « 344,341 « 370,000 " 

Total 1,351,143 1,447,771 1,603,000 



UUI 


9.... 


..12,262 


i( 1 


L.. 30,000 tons. 


C( 




..18,607 


u 1 


i 


« 




..26,942 


({ 


27,400 « 


(I 




.. 9,000 


i( 




« 




..60,155 


(( 


59,600 « 


« 




..24,000 


(I 


25,000 " 


(I 




..89,525 


({ 


86,000 " 


iC 




..55,743 


<( 


65,000 « 


it 




..19,500 


(( 




<( 




.. 5,400 


(( 




(( 


}• 


..21,300 


u 


....77,000 « 



21 

The number of tons of iron, native and foreign, consumed in 
1866 in our domestic manufactures, was 2,120,143. 

The consumption of American and European iron in 1866 was : 

Domestic 1,563,344 tons 83 per cent. 

Foreign 312,500 " 17 " 

In 1866, the production of native steel was about 1,900 tons. 
In 1867, the amount of Bessemer steel made in this country was 
about 3,000 tons ; and in 1868, 8,000 tons. 

The domestic manufacture and foreign importation of steel 
were : 

Native 19,125 tons 30,000 tons. 

Imported 21,566 " 16,700 " 

The important facts contained in the following quotation from 
the Secretary's report challenge the consideration of American 
statesmen and political economists : 

"It is impossible to ascertain from our government records 
the quantity of iron and steel imported into the country during the 
year 1867, as the treasury accounts are made up to the end of each 
fiscal year (June 30th). But we find by the last report of the 
British Board of Trade that, during the year ending Nov. 30th, 
1867, the following quantities of iron and steel were shipped from 
the various British ports to this country. The quantities are re- 
duced to net tons. 

Pig 143,684 

Bar, angle and rod 50,751 

Eailroad 188,770 

Castings 1,357 

Hoops, steel and plate 35,056 

Old for remanufacture 21,566 

Other iron (wrought) 8,661 

Total iron 449,845 

Steel ^21,556 

These quantities exceed by 23 per cent, the importations of 
the previous year. 

Of the whole quantity of pig iron exported by Great Britain 
during the period above given, the United States took 22 per cent., 
a much larger quantity than was exported to any other country. 
Of bar, angle, bolt and rod, we took 15 per cent., British India 
alone proving a better customer. Of the 651,859 tons of railroad 
iron exported, 188,770 tons were shipped hither, or 29 per cent. 
Leaving out India, which is a part of British domain, we imported 
more English railroad iron than any other twelve of her customers. 
Of hoops, sheets and boiler plate, we imported 35,056 tons, being 
25 per cent, of the total quantity of English Exports of this kind 
of iron. Of the 37,092 tons of steel exported by England, 21,566 



22 

tons, or 58 per cent,, were shipped hither. Surely these are 
startling facts, and yet we are often told by British and American 
free-traders that this is the only country with which England has 
not free and unrestricted commercial intercourse." 

In 1868, the total amount of domestic iron made from the ore 
was 1,640,600 tons. 

In 1868, the product of American rolling mills was 1,105,000 
tons. 

In 1867, the quantity of railroad iron made in the United 
States was 462,100 tons, in 1868, 566,700 tons. 

The amount of English railway bars imported to this country 
during the eleven months ending November 30th, 1868, was 
278,035 tons. 

During the year ending June 30th 1868, the imports of iron 
and steel and of articles manufactured from them amounted to 
522,615 tons, worth $23,496,835 ; but the aggregate of pig iron 
made in this country in 1868 was 1,603,000 tons, valued at 
$63,000,000. 

It is yet too early for full returns of last year's operations, and 
consequently some of the above figures for 1868, being based upon 
incomplete data, may not be precisely accurate; but it is thought 
that these approximations will not widely differ from the ultimate 
and exact results. 



THE ECONOMY OF DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 



With coin at a premium of 35 per cent., pig iron can now be 
made at Carondelet for $18.50 per ton in gold or $25 in currency. 
The economical importance of this fact is best enforced by practical 
applications. In some of the subsequent illustrations, St. Louis is 
represented as the exclusive western manufactory of iron and the 
sole point of commercial distribution, not because it is believed that 
our city will over attain an absolute monopoly of this industry, but 
simply because it is impossible from the lack of requisite statistics 
to state the relative manufacture and consumption of iron in the 
different sections of the country. But if fuller data permitted an 
exact exposition of these proportions, the force of the argument 
would not be weakened. The essential truth of the illustration is 
not impaired by a reduction of the figures. There would still be an 
economy proportioned to the actual quantity of iron manufactured 
at St. Louis. 



Ono of our largest importers furnishes the following statement : 

Cost per ton of Scotch pig at Glasgow $12.50 in gold, $16.87 in cur. 

Commissions 31 

Insurance to New Orleans 16 

Fi'eight to N. O. and primage 4.00 

Government impost 9.00 

Dra3'age and commissions at N. 1.11 

Freight from N. 0. to St. Louis 2.96 

Insurance " " 29 



i( 


42 


(I 


21 


« 


5.40 


« 


12.15 


a 


1.50 


« 


4.00 


(( 


40 



Total cost at St. Louis $30.33 $40.95 

Scotch pig is one of the cheapest kinds of iron made in Europe. 
It is chiefly used by founders. All the metal employed in the 
manufacture of superior hardware and cutlery commands a higher 
price. In 1866, 80,000 tons of Scotch pig iron were imported into this 
country. Upon the assumption that one-fifth of this quantit}^ was 
consumed by the states naturally tributary to St. Louis, then, at 
the lowest cost of foreign ix'on and the present price of our own, the 
furnaces of Carondelet, in one year and on a single article, would 
have effected a net saving of $255,200, distributed $400,000 among 
the laborers and proprietors of our Iron Works, retained in this 
mart and its commercial dependencies a productive capital of 
$655,200, and prevented the foreign exportation of $271,520 in gold. 

The cost of a recent importation of English rails was : 

Eails per ton at the Works $28.75 in gold, 

Commissions 71 " 

Insurance to New Orleans 39 " 

Freight to N. 0. and primage 6.50 " 

Government impost 15.68 " 

Dravage and Commission at N. 1.11 " 

Freight from N. O. to St. Louis 3.70 '' 

Insurance " " 55 " 



138.81; 


in cur 


95 




52 




8.77 




21.16 




1.50 




5.00 




75 





Total $57.39 $77.46 

The price of English rails, delivered in St. Louis, is generally 
from $78 to $80 a ton. 

The mean cost of American rails is : 

Eails per ton at Johnstown, Pa $75.00 

Freight to Pittsburg 2.24 

Freight from Pittsburg to St. Louis by rail 10.00 

" " " " river 5.00 

Insurance " " " " 50 



Total cost by rail $87.24 

" " " river $82.74 



24 

The following statement of the actual and estimated consump- 
tion of new bars is furnished by our railroad companies, and applies 
almost exclusively to the state of Missouri : 

Railroads. Tons. 

Kansas Pacific — made in Pa., and delivered in 1868 6,000 

Hannibal and St. Joseph — consumed in 1868 10,000 

North Missouri — used in 1868, (70 per cent. English) 12,000 

Cedar Eapids — imported in 1868 4,000 

South Pacific — to be used in 1869 (5600 tons of English iron 

already bought) 10,000 

Missouri Pacific — to be consumed in 1869 1,000 

Iron Mountain — for the entire line 11,500 

Total 54,500 

The construction of the Chillicothe and Omaha railroad would 
swell this aggregate to 71,000 tons. In 1868, one of our St. Louis 
contractors purchased for the North Missouri and Cedar Eapids 
railroads 10,800 tons of English bars, delivered upon our levee at 
a total cost of $875,000. 

Now it is claimed that, at present rates, the rolling-mills of 
St. Louis can make rails for $70 a ton, but upon the basis of $75 a 
ton for rails of home production and the low average of $80 a ton 
for bars of eastern and foreign make, then on the 54,500 tons of 
railroad ii-on, domestic manufacture would save $272,500, and pay 
to our own labor $4,087,500. 

In 1867, 253,868 tons of re-rolled rails were consumed in the 
United States. If one-fifth of this amount had been re-made in our 
own workshops, the laborers and capitalists of St. Louis would 
have received $1,827,850. 

If the Missouri Pacific changes its gauge during the present 
year, then in 1869 the railroads of this state will need 5,750 tons of 
re-rolled bars. At the present price of production, the re-making 
of these rails in our own mills would disburse in this community 
$207,000. 

In 1867, the amount of British railway iron imported into this 
country was 188,770 tons. If, at the present rates, one-fifth of these 
bars had been manufactured in the rolling-mills of St. Louis, the in- 
dustrial interests of the city would have been fostered by the dis- 
bursement of $2,831,550, and western railroads would have saved 
$188,770. 

In 1867, the United States used 396,322 tons of new railroad 
iron. Thus the consumption of new rails was then more than 
1000 tons a day. The domestic production of one-fifth of this aggre- 



25 

gate would have effected an economy of $396,320, while the wages 
and profits of our artisans and manufacturers would have amounted 
to $5,944,830. 

The distance from St. Louis to San Francisco is by the 

Union Pacific 2283 miles. | Kansas Pacific 2237 miles. 

Now according to our best iron-masters, the Carondelet fur- 
naces, using raw coal, will ultimately lessen the price of railroad 
iron $15 or $20 a ton. But at existing rates, with a reduction of 
only $5 a ton, the use of St. Louis bars in the construction of these 
two Pacific railroads would have saved the country $2,260,000, 
while the total expenditure of $33,900,000 in the workshops of this 
metropolis would have stimulated every branch of industry to un- 
precedented activity and prosperity. 

The erection in this vicinity of rolling-mills and machine-shops 
commensurate with our resources of iron and coal would be a na- 
tional benefit, but the wealth of this industry would chiefly enrich 
the Mississippi Valley and its metropolis. Yet, thus far, so little use 
has been made of our natural capabilities that the very track which 
runs at the foot of our Iron Mountains is laid with British rails ! 

But pig iron and railroad bars "are comparatively crude and 
inexpensive productions. Our cheap iron, wrought by our own 
skill into all its forms of commercial use, would save those im- 
mense sums which the country is now paying for European cutlery. 
The following table, transcribed from the records of our Custom 
House, shows the amount of foreign iron and steel imported to 
this city in bond. The duties on the greater part of our importa- 
tions are paid at other ports. Goods of this class are not included 
in the appended statement : 

1867. 

Number. Foreign Value. Duty in Coin. 

Hails 46,731 $264,905.00 $135,694.36 

Tons Pig 2,078 30,746.00 18,708.00 

Packages Steel 2,203 17,037.00 8,789.77 

« Hoop Iron ...2,485 6,569.00 2,745.15 

18 68. 

I^ails 61,955 $345,222.00 $188,446.65 

Tons Pig 3,039 43,474.00 27,351.00 

Packages Steel 641 32,223.00 11,306.83 

« Hoop Iron.. 584 1,625.00 1,009.74 



26 

In 1867, the merchants of St. Louis sold about $8,000,000 worth 
of crude iron-ware. The manufacture of this iron by our own 
artisans into the costlier articles of hardware would have enlarged 
our municipal revenues and promoted the well-being of the in- 
dustrial classes. 

From the first of June 1867 to the first of November 1868, the 
St. Louis Board of Water Works ordered 7551 tons of pipe, and 
215 tons of special castings, at a total cost of $612,329. This quan- 
tity — three quarters of which have already been delivered — in- 
cludes not only the main pipe required for the new reservoirs, but 
also the distribution pipe necessary for the old works. Of the 
above amount of pipe, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia 
furnished the following proportions ; — 

St. Louis 2918 tons at a cost of $248,472 

Cincinnati 2155 " " " 170,000 

Philadelphia 2478 " " « 193,857 

The freight from Cincinnati was $4,00 per ton, and from Phil- 
adelphia $17.25 per ton, Li 1867, the estimated expense of manu- 
facture at Philadelphia, exclusive of the value of the iron, varied from 
$12.50 to $14.50 per ton of 2240 pounds. JS'ow upon the assump- 
tion that iron can be made at Carondelet for $25 a ton and that 
pipe can be cast at home for $15 a ton, then, on the above orders 
from Cincinnati and Philadelphia, St. Louis by the manufacture 
of its own pipe could have saved in 17 months on freight alone 
$51,360, and have paid $185,320 to the industry and enterprize of 
its own citizens. The total quantity of pipe ordered by the Water 
Commissioners up to the first of March 1869 was about 9800 tons, 
at an estimated cost of $786,000. Of this amount, 4800 tons, cost- 
ing $395,000, is furnished by St. Louis. 

These remarks are made in no spirit of censure. At the time 
when these orders Avere given, St. Louis had no adequate facilities 
for the manufacture of all of its own pipe; and, even if its product- 
ive capacity had been equal to its wants, the Water Board was 
bound by exjiress provision of law to award the contracts to the 
lowest responsible bidder. Our Commissioners have gone to the 
limits of the law in their encouragement of domestic industry; and 
the success of the St. Louis pipe foundry, fostered by their patron- 
age, verifies the foregoing observations and enforces the importance 
of home manufactures. 

The manufacture of railroad engines is an important industry. 
St. Louis is capable of supplying the demand of westeni railroads. 
An energetic use of natural advantages and skilled labor would 
enable this city to equip all the railroads of the Mississippi Yalley. 
A manufactory of first class locomotives would doubtless receive 
large oi'dres from neighboring States. The following data, which 
refer to but one railroad beyond the limits 6f Missouri, show the 
present magnitude of this business. 



27 



No. of engines No. to be built 
iu 1868. iu 1869. 



RAILROADS. 

South Pacific 6 

Kansas Pacific, 29 

Iron Mountain 32 20 

North Missouri 42 

Hannibal and St. Joseph 54 10 

Missouri Pacific 55 45 

Total 218 75 

ISTearly all our locomotives are made at the East. The average 
cost of an engine at the works is about $13,000, and its freight to 
the banks of the Mississippi is from $800 to $1000. Apart from 
the price of transportation, which at the lowest rate amounts to 
$234,400, the cost of these 293 engines is $3,809,000. The manu- 
facture of locomotives must exj)and equally with the rapid devel- 
opment of our railroad system. St. Louis cannot atford to neglect 
a business so full of present importance and prospective growth. 

In 1868, the commercial marine of this city consisted of 
234 steamers and 158 barges. Upon the assumption that the 
average cost of the engine and boilers of each boat was $13,000, the 
total expense for motive machinery of 234 steamers was $3,042,000. 
A wooden barge 190 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 8 feet deep costs 
from $10,000 to $12,000. An iron barge of the same dimensions 
would probably cost from $25,000 to $30,000. Vast amounts of 
grain and general freight will yet be transported in barges upon the 
Mississippi and its tributaries. The movement, now in its infancy, 
will yet expand into an immense system of transportation. If the 
proposed substitution of iron for wood in the construction of 
barges should prove economical, then another important industry 
is opened to the enterprize of St. Louis. The cost of 158 barges 
at $25,000 a piece is $4,950,000. A business which in its incipiency 
is capable of such results must in its full development require an 
enormous outlay of capital. The probabilities of profit and ex- 
pansion which the construction of steamboat engines and iron 
barges presents must attract the attention of our machinists. 
They enjoy facilities which almost guarantee a monopoly of this 
branch of manufactures. 

The preceding figures and illustrations show the natural fa- 
cilities of St. Louis for the manufacture of iron and the economic 
advantages of domestic production. An adequate development of 
our mineral resources and metallurgic capabilities would make 
St. Louis and Carondelet the Shefiield and Birmingham of the 
continent. The quotations of this market will yet control the Iron 
Trade of America. 



28: 

THE INDUCEMENTS OFFERED TO EUROPEAN 
IRON MAKERS AND WORKMEN. 



Only a limited improvement has yet been made of our facilitiea 
for the manufacture of iron. In 1867, the furnaces of Miseonri pro- 
duced about 29,300 tons of pig metal. The product of 1868 was 
nearly 33,000 tons. This quantity, when compared with our re- 
sources of ore and coal, is inconsiderable. An ample field lies open 
to foreign enterprise. All that tract of country adjacent to Pilot 
Knob is rich in minei'al wealth, and explorations may develop 
better ores than any yet discovered. But the quantity of ore al- 
ready disclosed by scientific survey is sufficient to supply a thou* 
sand furnaces for ages. The preceding statistics show how cheaply 
this ore can be smelted. Great wealth awaits the hand of enterprise. 
The iron-masters of Europe, with their capital, experience and 
skill, could here make large accessions to their fortunes. They 
would, too, build up a great industry and earn the gratitude of the 
American nation. The interests of foreign miners, furnace-men 
and machinists would be promoted by emigration to Missouri. 
Many of the mines of Europe are deep, damp and unwholesome. 
In many cases, too, the thinness of the veins of mineral constrains 
the miner to labor in an unnatural and painful attitude. The Illinois 
coal beds lie near the surface and the seams are sufficiently thick 
to permit an upright posture. The mines are well-ventilated and 
healthful. Accidents from fire-damp are almost unknown. The 
Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob ore is quarried hundreds of feet 
above the surface of the surrounding valley. It would be difficult 
to conceive of mines more accessible or easily worked. Ko other 
locality offers miners conditions more favorable to the prosecution 
of their work. 

Again, while the wages of the European laborer are small, the 
compensation of the American workingman is liberal. The follow- 
ing prices, now paid in St. Louis and vicinit}^, are computed at gold 
rates, with coin at 35 per cent, premium, and their equivalent value 
given in the currencies of England, France and Prussia. 

UNITED STATES. GREAT BRITAIN. FRANCE. PRUSSIA. 

$ £ B. d. Francs. Thalers. 

Furnace-manager 1480.00 per year, 305 15 10 7931.40 2110.85 

Founder 1330.00 " " 274 16 00 7127.54 1909.82 

Engineer 130.00 " month, 26 17 4 696.67 186.67 

Keepers 1.95 " day, 8 2 10.45 2.80 

Helpers 1.66 « " 6 11 8.89 2.38 

Fillers 1.48 " " 6 2 7.93 2.11 

Cinder-men 1.48 " " 6 2 7.93 2.11 

Other workmen 1.30 " " 5 5 6.96 1.86 

Miners of iron ore 1.30 « <' 5 5 6.96 1.86 

(< " coal 2.96 " " 12 4 15.86 4.25 



29 

MacliinistB receive from $1.90 to 02.50 in gold value. If St. 
Louis had manufactories of elaborate cutlery the workmen would 
get still higher pay. 

In the last report of Hon. David A. Wells, Special Commis- 
sioner of the United States Eevenue, it is stated that the wages 
paid in American iron founderies and machine shops are 58 per 
cent, higher than those paid in England. According to this Report, 
"The jirice of puddling iron per ton in 

New England is $ 5.00 

New York 5.50 

New Jersey 6.00 

Eastern Pennsylvania 6.00 

Western « 6.75 

Western States 7.50 

Average price in currancy 6.12J 

u a u " gold in United States 4.37^ 

« " " « " "England 2.37^ 

" « " " " "Belgium 1.20 

The average weekly earnings of puddlers in the leading iron 
producing countries are as follows : 

United States (gold) % 16.54 

England 8.75 

France 8.00 

Belgium 6.00 

Russia, (at the Vicksa Iron Works) 1.93" 

The industrial conditions of Europe and America are widely 
different. The arduous and protracted toil which there barely pro- 
cures the means of subsistence would here earn a competency. 
While in some districts of Europe, meat and tea are seldom seen 
upon the laborer's table, here they are found upon every man's 
board and form a part of the ordinary fair. The articles of food 
and di'ink which in some portions of the old world are infrequent 
luxuries in our own country are enjoyed as daily necessities. 

The women and children who work in the mines and about the 
furnaces of Europe would here be exempt from such debasing toil. 
While families there are often reared in mental and physical deg- 
radation, here children enjoy the opportunities of public education 
and personal advancement, and their bodily strength is not im- 
paired by insufficient food and excessive labor. In Europe life is 
often a constant and cheerless struggle for a livelihood; in America 
toil is generally the cheap price of personal comfort and indepen- 
dence. Higher wages, larger fortunes, popular education, social 
progress, political rights and free worship invite the miners, iron- 
masters, machinists and artificers of Europe to accept the hospitable 
welcome of Missouri and aid the development of its wonderful re- 
sources. 



80 
THE INTERESTS AND DUTIES OF ST. LOUIS. 



The iron-masters of St. Louis are giving conclusive proofs of 
their confidence in the excellence of the Big Muddy coal. Con- 
vinced by the success of the Carondelet experiment, they have al- 
ready organized two companies for making iron. One of these 
companies is now erecting at Carondelet a large double furnace 
at a total cost of $155,000. The height of the works is 60 feet and 
the diameter of the boshes 14 feet. These furnaces will be in blast 
by the first of next July. 

The Big Muddy Coal Company, with a separate capital of 
$250,000, are putting up a double furnace 75 feet in height with 
boshes 16 feet in diameter. These works, built at Grand Tower, 
Illinois, will settle the question of economy in the freightage of 
material. In this case, the ore will be carried to the coal. Many 
of our iron-men maintain that this is the cheaper course. If the 
present experiment proves that the transportation of ore is less 
expensive than that of coal, then we congratulate our great sister- 
state upon her good fortxine and prospect of industrial development. 
But, in any event, the iron bands wrought from the ore of Missouri 
and the coal of Illinois will bind the two commonwealths in an in- 
dissoluble union of interests. 

It is confidently asserted by some of our iron-founders, that, 
if the distance between the coal and the ore were reduced to 75 
miles by the construction of a railroad from Pilot Knob down 
Saline Creek to the Mississippi river, then a ton of ore and a ton of 
coal could be brought together on either side of the Mississippi at 
a cost of $4 for the freight of both, and iron could be made on the 
banks of the Big Muddy for $20 in currency per ton. 

The progress already made is encouraging. The Carondelet 
furnace was put in blast last April, and already four large furnaces 
are in process of erection. They will be in operation in less than 
a year. This is the initial step of an industrial expansion which 
should be limited onl}' by the bounds of commercial demand. Our 
present production of iron is entirely unequal to our natural facil- 
ities for manufacture. The neglect of such resources is discredit- 
able to the enterprise of St. Louis. Indifference to interests of 
such magnitude will prove fatal to our prosperity. Nothing but an 
inglorious negligence of opportunities can prevent the manufactur- 
ing greatness of St. Louis. 

This city ought to be the iron-master of the continent. The 
immensity of foreign iron manufactures is shown in the foregoing 
statistics. If 1000 furnaces — each making 20 tons a day — were 
now in blast upon the banks of the Mississippi, their aggregate 
j-ield would be far less than the present iron product of Europe. 
The productive capital which this industry creates is enormous. 



81 

It amelioT'ates the condition of the working classes, and increases 
the wealth of nations. St. Louis should emulate the greatness of 
the manufacturing cities of Europe.- Our "Pigs", like those found 
on the banks of the. Tiber, mark the site of an imperial city. They 
are the augury of a great destiny. 

If St. Louis were the centre of American iron manufacture?, it would 
attract to this vicinity a variety of kindred industries. The establishment 
of furnaces at Carondelet would cause the erection of rollino^-mills, 
machine-shops, and manufactories of cutlery and hardware. The mil- 
lions annually spent in these workshops would relieve the wants of the 
laboring- classes, lighten the burdens of taxation, infuse fresh vitality into 
every department of industrial and commercial life, pvomote domestic 
manufactures, and save the immense capital now paid out for foreign pro- 
ductions, ensure the prosperity of St. Louis, and benefit the whole Mis- 
sissippi Valley. For the attainment of these great results, our citizens 
should unite in efficient co-operation ; our banks should favor the com- 
panies which organize for manufacturing purposes with liberal accomoda- 
tions ; and Congress, in view of their national importance, should foster 
our iron interests with protective legislation. 

We close our discussion of this subject in the words of a former 
article : 

A dozen years ago, England had 600 furnaces in operation, with 
an aggregate yearly capacity of 3,500,000 tons, and an annual productive 
value of $125,000,000. It was in view of such resources and enormous 
industrial wealth, that Mr. Gladstone recently declared in the British 
House of Commons that the "United Kingdom, wiih its 30,000,000 of 
people, is as great in commerce as France and America with their 
70,000,000. It is, then, our possession of coal, near what depends on 
coal, that has given us this extraordinary pre-eminence in commerce and 
industry." 

St. Louis enjoys all the conditions to which Mr. Gladstone ascribes 
the industrial greatness of England. In the immediate, vicinity of this 
city, there is an exh.auslless supply of coal, iron, limestone and fire-clay. 

The nearness of our Iron Mountains to coal of a suitable quality and 
quantity to smelt them preordains this city to be the great central ma- 
chine shop of this continent. The establishment in this vicinity of Iron 
Works sufficiently large to answer the needs of this valley would bring 
tens of millions annually to our municipal coffers, it would give a 
powerful impulse to the growth of St. Louis, improve our markets, and 
quicken the activity of every trade. If this great enterprise can be 
carried into successful execution, no rivalry can endanger the pre- 
eminent greatness of St. Louis. 



THE 

MUmU OF MISSOURI 



AND THE 



NATURAL ADAPTATION 



OP 



iaittt $mm 



TO 



IRON MANUFACTURES. 



BY 

SYLVESTER WATERHOUSE, 
ST. LOUIS. 

SECOND ENLARGED EDITION, 



ST. LOUIS, MO. 

STEBEOTTPED AND PRINTED BY AUG. WIEBUSCH k SON. 

1869. 



H 107 89 H 











bBQKKEEPER 

PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, LP. 
1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 








HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC. 

A^ NOV 89 






N. MANCHESTER, 

INDtAMA jicoco 




